Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity

As Hurricane Sandy pounded coastal areas, its enormous breadth put hospitals in jeopardy throughout the Tri-State region. In Newburgh, N.Y., located on the banks of the Hudson River about 60 miles north New York City, sustained winds of 40 to 60 miles per hour and gusts of 100 miles per hour downed trees and caused local power outages. Cletis Earle, vice president and CIO of St. Luke’s Cornwall Hospital, a two-campus system with a 242-bed hospital in Newburgh and a second facility in nearby Cornwall, N.Y., described how his hospital fared during the storm and his view on disaster preparations.

Southampton Hospital CIO William Bifulco reflects on the preparations that he and his team made as Hurricane Sandy approached their community—and what might have been done even better

Disasters can strike at any time, and there is really no way provider organizations can completely insulate themselves from unforeseen or large-scale natural events such as hurricanes, floods, and fires. Nonetheless, as hospitals continue on their steady march to becoming paperless organizations, many are following strategies that are minimizing their risk of unplanned downtime. Three hospital systems provide details about how technology has influenced the way they prepare for disasters and what they have learned from their experiences.

As Hurricane Isaac gets ready to bear down on the Gulf Coast, I’m reminded of Hurricane Katrina a scant seven years ago, and how important it is for hospitals to keep their disaster plans current. The good news is that advances in technology do help hospitals be prepared when it comes to protecting their electronic records. But implementing new technology puts demands on the hospital system as well, because it can affect how an organization reacts to a disaster.