Secondary Surge Capacity A Framework for Understanding Long-Term Access to Primary Care for Medically Vulnerable Populations in Disaster Recovery

The authors advocate for the expansion of surge capacity plans to meet the chronic health care needs of vulnerable populations that increase following the acute phase of disaster response. They use a health services model to identify factors that perpetuate health disparities following disasters. To address these disparities, the authors recommend a baseline assessment of needs, with the expectation that such health care needs will expand post-disaster.