AHRQ Grantee Releases Surge Capacity Tool for Hospitals

A new surge capacity tool developed by AHRQ grantee James Benneyan, Ph.D., can help hospitals determine their operational needs during a pandemic, including requirements for beds, ventilators, personal protective equipment, medications and staff. The tool automatically generates results for 1- to 30-day projections, based on individual hospital and patient data, and is free to hospitals worldwide. The surge capacity tool is among AHRQ-supported resources, toolkits and research findings available to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Benneyan is executive director of the Healthcare Systems Engineering Institute and a professor of industrial engineering at Northeastern University in Boston.