Define hospital surge capacity and name two strategies to expand it during a disaster.

• A. The ability to manage a sudden surge of patients; strategies include canceling elective admissions and converting nonclinical spaces or external sites to care areas.
• B. The ability to expand billing and revenue; hire more administrative staff
• C. The capacity to discharge all patients; close hospital
• D. The ability to reduce staff; postpone all procedures

Answer: (A)

Surge capacity is the hospital’s ability to manage a sudden influx of patients by rapidly expanding space, staff, and supplies to deliver care. In a disaster, expanding this capacity means freeing existing capacity and creating new care areas so more patients can be treated without compromising safety.

Two practical ways to expand surge capacity are canceling elective admissions to free up beds and resources, and converting nonclinical spaces or external sites into care areas (for example, turning conference rooms or cafeterias into treatment spaces or setting up a field hospital). These steps increase the number of patients who can be cared for and help the system cope with high demand.

Other options don’t fit because they don’t meaningfully increase the hospital’s ability to treat more patients during a surge; they focus on finances, shutting down services, or reducing staffing and delaying care, which would undermine capacity.