HAP Blog

There’s the old adage that I’m sure you’ve heard before: It’s a marathon, not a sprint. When someone says this, they’re reminding you to see the big picture. We can’t just react to the challenges in front of us, but also the ones in the distance.

It’s hard to believe we have reached the start of another year. During the pandemic, our overall sense of time can feel fluid, as we respond to one emergency after another. Maybe it’s just me, but 2022 was quite a year, and one word comes to mind: resiliency.

As emergency managers, we have to consider the threats on the horizon, and those that pose larger, systemic risks. This helps us be ready for the patients in the hospital, and those that may need care over time. Lately, I’ve been thinking about how climate change affects our overall emergency preparedness.

To support the wellbeing of health care workers, HAP developed the Music Therapy Collaborative (MTC) in partnership with the Pennsylvania Counsel on the Arts and the Pennsylvania Music Therapy Task Force.

It is that time of year where we put away our severe thunderstorm maps and start taking a look at the winter weather radar. Here in Pennsylvania, we know a single storm can dump a few feet in one region of the state and deliver only a slight rainfall in another just a few miles away. For emergency managers, that means we have to be ready to adjust for conditions that change in an instant.

Hospitals and health systems always have been caretakers for patients and their sensitive personal information, but this year has tested us like never before. We’ve read countless headlines and emergency sector notices about new digital threats, and they serve as a reminder of the work ahead.