Month: January 2018

Influenza-like illness (ILI) surge and options for surge management. The program office for the State Hospital Preparedness Program has shared the following regarding influenza-like illness (ILI) surge and options for surge management:

Any requests for approval of bed increase or alternation, temporary facilities including soft structures, or other alterations to operations will need to be routed through the appropriate regulatory section at DHSR. Before we can clear any of these alterations that are utilizing SMRS equipment, the DHSR section will need to have approved. A couple of reminders: per CMS, billing cannot be completed in soft structures and you cannot move patients from a hard to soft structure.

Second, the Acute Care Section shared the regulation on alteration of bed capacity that is listed below for reference.

Finally, 1135 waivers require both the US HHS Secretary to declare a public health emergency and a Presidential declaration under the National Emergencies Act or Stafford Act. More information on current waivers can be found here.

 

10A NCAC 13B .3111       TEMPORARY CHANGE IN BED CAPACITY

(a)  A hospital may temporarily increase its bed capacity by up to 10 percent over its licensed bed capacity, as determined by the administrator, by utilizing observational beds for inpatients for a period of no more than 60 consecutive days following approval by the Division of Health Service Regulation.

(b)  To qualify for a temporary change in licensed capacity, the hospital census shall be at least 90 percent of its licensed bed capacity, excluding beds that are under renovation or construction, and the hospital must demonstrate conditions requiring the temporary increase that may include but are not limited to the following:

(1)           natural disaster;

(2)           catastrophic event; or

(3)           disease epidemic.

(c)  The Division may approve a temporary increase in licensed beds only if:

(1)           It is determined that the request has met the requirements of Paragraphs (a) and (b) of this Rule; and

(2)           The hospital administrator certifies that the physical facilities to be used are adequate to safeguard the health and safety of patients. However this approval shall be revoked if the Division determines, as a result of a physical site visit, that these safeguards are not adequate to safeguard the health and safety of patients.

 

History Note:        Authority G.S. 131E-79;

Eff. April 1, 2003;

Pursuant to G.S. 150B-21.3A, rule is necessary without substantive public interest Eff. July 22, 2017.

 

 

New look for NCTC Website. We are pleased to announce the launch of our updated website! After months of hard work and dedication, we are delighted to officially announce updates complete. The website is an effort by the three Coalitions (CapRAC, Duke, and MidCarolina) who form the collaborative NC Triangle Coalition in order to share resources, reduce redundancy, and consolidate preparedness efforts in our regions.

While remaining separate entities, the three Coalitions share this updated site with a goal to provide our visitors an easier way to learn about Coalition services and initiatives in an easier environment than previously established. The new website is interactive and gives better access to Who we are, What we Do, The State Medical Assistance Team, and relevant Disaster Resources.

Current and prospective clients will find useful information about our services on the homepage of our website. There, you may use the interactive features to identify which coalition you belong to simply by clicking on your County. A pop up will appear to allow you to affiliate with that Coalition or affiliate later. Affiliation allows that Coalition to access contact information entered on the screen. The Who we serve feature on the homepage will pull up the key response partners (Emergency Management, EMS, Public Health Agency) for each County.

Also on the Home page are listings for events, articles, and response RSS feeds designed to foster improved communication with stakeholders. We will be constantly updating our content with helpful information, articles, Coalition announcements and stakeholder successes in the News section.

The Resources page holds downloadable information, best practices and guidance from organizations such as CMS, The Joint Commission, ASPR, CDC, FEMA, and many others. Links to these and many other organizations are also included on this page.

The individual Coalition pages will highlight each Coalition’s administrative documents (Bylaws, meeting minutes, etc) as well as highlight projects we have completed and attempt to outline the value created for each stakeholder as a result. We hope you find the new website with a fresh look- easy to access information and we also wish to establish this portal as a source of information for those who visit our site. We graciously request that you consider your own facilities preparedness information and best practices for submission to our site.

 

We invite you to learn more about the Coalition and to contact us at info@nctriaglecoalition.org any time if we can be of assistance.

 

Thank You!