A coalition was formed between healthcare facilities in King County, Washington, and relevant results arose from the partnership. The general descriptions of the coalition and its sub-committees describe the identification and sharing of resources, communication and collaboration across hospitals, and proposed management of patient surge. The formation of a healthcare coalition is not an uncommon practice in metropolitan areas, and many jurisdictions may have little need for a description of this council's organizational and response structure. However, the toolkit that was produced by the coalition may have broader applicability to jurisdictions and facilities that are planning a pandemic response.
The toolkit includes several components that may be useful to ambulatory care providers, including local pandemic influenza scenarios, a policy template for operational ambulatory care establishment, and a concise response plan for ambulatory care centers. While the more general descriptive materials may be useful for jurisdictions that are beginning to form collaborations among healthcare facilities, agencies in advanced stages of planning might benefit from the operational ambulatory care materials in the coalition toolkit.
