26 Oct 2009 |
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President Barack Obama declared the 2009 H1N1 flu a national emergency this past weekend, giving his health chief the power to let hospitals move emergency rooms off-site to speed treatment and protect non-infected patients. The president signed the declaration to help health care agencies respond to a possible worsening of the pandemic. The declaration is similar to ones issued before hurricanes hit coastal regions, officials say. With the declaration, a hospital that wants to open an off-site care center will be able to do so. Off-site centers will allow hospitals to treat large numbers of people infected with H1N1, but keep those people out of the hospital where H1N1 could spread to patients who don't have the flu. Bellin Health already offers treatment to some of its patients with flu-like illness at a separate clinic specifically set up to care for such patients. The clinic helps speed treatment while keeping sick flu patients from spreading the virus to healthier patients. The emergency declaration makes it easier for medical facilities to handle a surge of flu patients by allowing them to waive some Medicaid and federal health insurance program rules if needed, the White House said. It will allow waivers of federal requirements that could, for example, prevent hospitals from establishing off-site, alternate care facilities that could help deal with emergency department demands. Currently, federal rules do not allow hospitals to put up treatment tents more than 250 yards away from the hospital if they expect to be reimbursed. Federal officials say such rules don't make sense amid an H1N1 flu outbreak. The declaration, signed Friday night and announced Saturday, comes with the disease more prevalent than ever in the country. Health authorities say more than 1,000 people in the United States, including almost 100 children, have died from the H1N1 strain of flu, and 46 states have widespread flu activity. The illness has put another 20,000 people in the hospital.
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