Hospital services are needed in earthquake disasters, yet hospitals themselves are vulnerable institutions which are easily damaged in a major quake. Despite the importance of hospitals in the post-disaster recovery process, very little attention has been given in recent years to the unique problems which health care institutions face in earthquakes. Information on hospital recovery is limited by the paucity of data about the impacts of urban earthquakes on hospital structures, on functions of various hospital departments, and on staff, patients, and visitors in hospitals. This project will fill in the gaps of our present knowledge about hospital response and recovery by documenting the impacts, immediate response, interim recovery actions, and long-term recovery programs at hospitals in the September 19, 1985 Mexico earthquake disaster. The overall effects of the quake on the multi-tiered health sector in Mexico City will be examined then a sample of individual hospitals will be analyzed. The study will examine the structural and nonstructural damage inflicted by the 8.1 M earthquake, particularly on hospitals in Mexico City, and will track and evaluate the recovery process over an 18-month period, carefully screening the data gathered and lessons learned for their applicability to the U.S. context. Descriptive and analytical techniques will be used, based on interviews with key health sector decision-makers, hospital administrators, department heads, patients, and staff. The results will provide specific information for specific groups in the hospital setting and the health care system as a whole about what they can do to reduce the impacts of an earthquake and restore essential services.//
