Answering the Community’s Call: How the Central Virginia Healthcare Coalition Enabled Continuity of Care During the Richmond Water Crisis

Richmond, Virginia
January 5, 2025  

On Sunday, January 5, 2025, local and national news channels began reporting on the potential for a blizzard to hit the greater Richmond area. While residents rushed to the grocery store to grab last-minute necessities, the Central Virginia Healthcare Coalition (CVHC) began monitoring weather reports and preparing for the snow’s potential impacts on health care in the area. The Greater Richmond area, inclusive of Henrico and Chesterfield counties, typically experiences minimal snowfall, averaging a total of three to seven inches annually. However, meteorologists predicted an unusual six to eight inches in just one day. 

CVHC is a health care coalition funded by ASPR’s Hospital Preparedness Program (HPP). CVHC leadership works with its members to conduct annual emergency preparedness and response exercises, establishing systems, protocols, and key relationships ahead of an emergency response. CVHC’s 203 member organizations include local emergency services, public health, fire departments, long-term care facilities, and acute care hospitals. As the storm approached, the CVHC maintained close contact with its members, sharing weather and situational awareness updates to stay ahead of any potential emergencies. 

By Monday, January 6, nearly six inches of snow had fallen, setting off a series of cascading consequences that resulted in widespread water contamination and issues with distribution in and around the greater Richmond area. By Monday afternoon, the CVHC team began receiving texts and calls from several of its members, informing Coalition leadership of the impending water crisis. Soon after, the CVHC received the first of what would be many hotline calls, warning that the city would be out of water by approximately 5:00 PM that day. The Coalition immediately jumped into response mode. 

The Coalition activated pre-developed plans and systems to coordinate a virtual response, keeping its members and partners connected despite unsafe road conditions and limited access to water in the CVHC office. Without these pre-developed plans and systems, the CVHC team would not have been able to safely coordinate the response, allowing the crisis to grow to the point of needing to evacuate affected facilities and patients. Together, the team quickly worked with its members to procure urgent supplies (e.g., heaters, blankets, bottled water, handwashing stations, non-potable water tankers), establish daily coordination calls, and provide 24/7 support to all affected facilities. 

For example, one of the community’s most immediate needs was to secure alternative water sources, both to maintain facility operations (e.g., heating, plumbing) and to continue patient care. The CVHC coordinated with the Emergency Support Function #8 at the Virginia Emergency Operations Center to identify and distribute 36 tanker trucks to provide non-potable water to the 21 affected facilities, including 11 hospitals and freestanding emergency departments and 10 long-term care facilities. The CVHC team also set up hand-washing stations and coordinated the distribution of bottled water to facilities to ensure patients stayed hydrated, ate, and took their medications. As a result of CVHC’s efforts, none of the 21 affected facilities had to evacuate.

Throughout the week, CVHC staff worked tirelessly, often without breaks, to manage the crisis and support all affected facilities. The team maintained situational awareness by leading daily coordination calls with partners, tracking and updating facility availability in the Virginia Healthcare Alerting and Status System, and maintaining consistent communication with all affected facilities. The Coalition worked closely with one of its key partners, the Office of Drinking Water, receiving timely and relevant status updates throughout the response. These updates helped CVHC staff plan resource allocation, staffing efforts, and potential next steps for patient movement. 

One of the most remarkable aspects of the response was the sense of community and collaboration across Coalition members. As the Coalition worked with affected facilities to plan for potential patient relocation, its goal was to keep patients as close to their original facilities as possible. Despite being competitors, Coalition members unaffected by the water crisis stepped up to assist affected facilities, sharing resources and offering available bed space in case affected facilities needed to evacuate patients. Strong inter-facility collaboration showcased the value of the relationships and overall community built by the CVHC over the years. 

By Friday, January 10, the city temporarily repaired the water plant, restoring water pressure and water safety. In all, the Coalition received and responded to 28 resource requests submitted through the Virginia Healthcare Alerting and Status System and the Coalition’s hotline. 

In Fiscal Year 2024, CVHC received and addressed 38 total hotline requests for assistance the whole year. During the week of the water crisis, the CVHC received and addressed 35 total hotline requests for assistance, preventing all affected facilities from evacuating. 

As CVHC team members reflected on the week, they shared a sense of pride in their collaboration and care for their community throughout the response. The Coalition was key to the success of this response, providing value through its:

• Extensive member network that includes non-traditional partners like the Office of Drinking Water,

• Flexible response structure that allowed the team to coordinate an effective response remotely, and

• Community-centered approach to patient care that enabled prompt identification, sourcing, and delivery of critical resources to affected facilities.
   

Community means knowing who to call when you need help. When disaster struck, health care entities throughout the greater Richmond area called on the CVHC and its members to help maintain continuity of care for all patients. Funded by HPP, the CVHC was prepared to answer its community’s call for help, coordinating a timely, well-informed, and effective response.  

Learn more about how HPP encourages community-centered health care coalition membership by accessing the Membership section (page 17) of the HPP Fiscal Year 2024-2028 Notice of Funding Opportunity.