In this section:

Business Continuity

Texas Health’s comprehensive business continuity program integrates multi-level contingency planning from the unit to the system level. Our business continuity plans consider essential services and critical functions within our health system and study departmental interdependencies to provide operational areas with the supplies, equipment, technology and support staff needed to keep our doors open, protect our employees and care for our patients in times of need.

To mitigate risks, we assess vulnerabilities, develop prevention and response strategies, train teams to respond when issues arise, and continually learn from and refine our practices.

2022 Highlights

Texas Health:

• Introduced standardized hospital-level business continuity plans to provide a consistent approach to incident response. These plans were built upon existing proven strategies and incorporated top hazards identified in our vulnerability analysis.

• Conducted a business impact analysis of Texas Health’s hospitals that assessed vulnerabilities, offered insights into resource needs and identified gaps in operational strategies. We found that department leaders are thoughtful and deliberate in understanding and creating resiliency among critical functions and essential services.

Emergency Management

To deliver quality and sustainable care to consumers and protect employees and visitors, Texas Health’s emergency management team develops, tests and refines response plans to respond effectively to unforeseen events. We use the National Incident Management System framework to manage threats and hazards and incorporate the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s training resources in continuity and emergency response planning. We refine or create new policies and plans to guide our emergency management and training programs.

To fortify our emergency response systems, we conduct internal drills and participate in community exercises with area hospitals, emergency responders and other authorities. Our protocols allow us to communicate, decontaminate, evacuate and track patients quickly.

2022 Highlights

Texas Health:

• Reviewed lessons learned from the historic 2021 storm, which led to the development and implementation of new plans and procedures across the system. This advanced planning better prepared our hospitals when severe weather continued during the year, resulting in minimal to no disruption of services.
• Continued updating andstandardizing emergency operation plans, hazard vulnerability analysis and after-action reports to drive consistency in processes, protocols and responses across the system.