Augmenting Rural Hospital Capacity in California Lessons Learned from COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic challenged all aspects of health care, and rural areas were hit particularly hard. Many rural hospitals do not have the capacity to accommodate patient surge, may not have the on-site capabilities to treat very ill patients, and may be challenged with providing care in place versus transferring patients, especially during a pandemic. ASPR TRACIE met with subject matter experts from California who helped manage the response to the pandemic across the state to learn more about how they worked with hospital staff particularly in Imperial County (a rural area bordered by San Diego, Riverside, and Yuma [Arizona] counties, and Mexico) to augment capacity and accommodate patient surge.