Highland Hospital Emergency Operation Plan Review

The Challenge
Highland Hospital is a Joint Commission-accredited mental health facility located in Charleston, West Virginia. With both inpatient and outpatient services and operating from multiple locations in the Charleston area, Highland Hospital recognized the need to update its existing emergency operations plan and enhance its emergency preparedness program and training to meet newly evolving Joint Commission standards for healthcare facilities as well as further its commitment to providing a safe environment for its visitors and clients.

The Solution
Delta’s multidisciplinary Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Recovery Solutions Team reviewed all existing planning materials against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security National Incident Management System (NIMS), the Hospital Incident Command System (HICS), and the 2009 Behavioral Health Facility Standards of the Joint Commission. The results of this review were documented in a gap analysis and crosswalk showing the status of Highland Hospital’s efforts at the start of the project and what needed to be done to strengthen its emergency preparedness program. Following this assessment, Delta provided a workshop to the Highland Hospital Emergency Preparedness Team to move the hospital’s program forward and further enhance the hospital’s relationships with key community partners and stakeholders. The workshop materials included a hazard vulnerability assessment tool and instructions on how to determine what hazards exist in the community so planning and mitigation activities can take place. Attendees were provided a HICS- and NIMS-compliant emergency operations plan template designed to meet the needs of a facility such as Highland Hospital. Included with the template were questions, bullet points, and considerations hospital staff should explore while developing a final emergency operations plan.

The Result
Delta’s workshop produced immediate results. During the workshop, Delta facilitated discussions among members of the hospital’s Emergency Preparedness Team to coordinate information so a new emergency operations plan may be developed. Participants understood and discussed the importance of working with community stakeholders and partners as well as with other groups. Participants actively engaged Delta’s team of public health, emergency management, fire, and emergency medical services subject matter experts in questions that dealt directly with best practices and how Highland Hospital can best implement them.