A variation on Field of Dreams: if funded, it will happen; hospital surge capacity seems relatively immune to $4B surge in federal spending. Our national health system is a crisis waiting to happen. When you consider that most notions of universal healthcare in the US have a component of market competition, it is hard to reconcile any scenario where competition will create surge capacity. There are no health system models (other than EMS) that staff for peak–capacity, most staff for average–capacity. Moving the AUC from average– to peak–capacity will require much more than just federal dollars, it will require fundamental changes in how we provide healthcare.
