U.S. ill prepared for flu, critics say

Published 10:34 pm Saturday, February 2, 2008

WASHINGTON — The federal government’s plans for dealing with pandemic flu do not adequately account for the huge strain an outbreak would place on hospitals and public health systems trying to cope with millions of seriously ill Americans, some public health experts and local health officials say.

The Bush administration’s plans contemplate a nightmare medical scenario, but critics say federal officials have left too much of the responsibility and the cost to an already strained health care system.

“The amount going into actually being prepared at a community level is not enough,” said Patrick Libbey, executive director of the National Association of County and City Health Officials. “We are still talking about rearranging with little additional resources the assets of a system that are built on such a thin margin now that you have significant amounts of people without access to care.”

The Bush administration argues that it is doing a lot to help. It has doled out hundreds of millions of dollars in preparedness grants for hospitals and public health systems every year, subsidized the stockpiling of antiviral drugs, conferred with governors and encouraged resource-sharing plans among hospitals.

Its larger strategy involves partnering with other countries to quickly contain outbreaks overseas, developing medical measures to limit the virus’s spread if it reaches the U.S., and working with state and local officials to keep the economy and society functioning. But administration officials acknowledge that gaps remain.

A serious outbreak would probably overwhelm medical centers, cause lengthy delays in care and trigger shortages of supplies, experts said.