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Emergency Management: Testimony of Teri Fontenot
Title: Focusing on Children in Disasters: Evacuation Planning and Mental Health Recovery, Testimony of Teri Fontenot
Bibliographic Entry: U.S. Congress. Senate. Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Focusing on Children in Disasters: Evacuation Planning and Mental Health Recovery. 111th Cong., 1st sess., August 4, 2009.
Electronic Link: http://hsgac.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Hearings.Hearing&Hearing_id=aa8241f6-6f0e-41a5-87c3-07c9a58ecbfa
Key Words: Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana, Baton Rouge, Woman’s Hospital of Baton Rouge, FEMA, Operation SmartMove, patient evacuation, hospital preparedness, neonates, hospital surge capacity, Stafford Act
Summary of Key Issues, Points, Conclusions: Teri Fontenot, President and CEO of Woman’s Hospital in Baton Rouge, explains the quick action and successful measures the Woman’s Hospital of Baton Rouge took after Hurricane Katrina. She explained what her hospital did to help thousands but says she believes more coordination among agencies would create more efficient responses. She then focuses her testimony on the lessons Louisiana learned from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and the new plans that resulted. The new plan for emergency management of neonates is one example. She also described a new initiative called Operation SmartMove, a hospital organization with the goal of ensuring that infants and mothers will have somewhere safe during a disaster or time of crisis by designation an “expert hospital” with the capacity to coordinate care for displaced patients. She also mentions that surge capacity was included in original plans, but later removed due to financial strains. Finally, she recommends that the Stafford Act be amended so that private organizations who respond to emergencies can qualify for reimbursement costs associated with evacuations.
Date Posted: 11/2/09