Closing the Resilience Gap Before the Next Storm 

A hospital’s ability to weather the next storm depends on decisions made long before it arrives.

Healthcare facilities face a growing range of challenges, from hurricanes and severe windstorms to aging infrastructure and changing regulations. Each can threaten the ability to deliver uninterrupted care. Resilience is not defined solely by how a facility responds during a crisis. It is shaped by decisions made years before that crisis occurs.

Too often, resilience is viewed as a destination or a project with a defined endpoint. In my experience, it is better understood as a continuous process of evaluating risk, identifying vulnerabilities, and making strategic investments that allow facilities to adapt over time.

This process becomes increasingly important as healthcare organizations continue to operate facilities designed under very different environmental and operating conditions.

Many hospitals and essential facilities have building systems that have performed well for decades. However, the weather events affecting communities and the performance expectations placed on healthcare facilities continue to evolve. Modern building codes require greater resistance to wind loads and windborne debris, while severe weather events are testing facilities in ways they may not have been designed to endure.

When healthcare organizations evaluate resilience, conversations often focus on emergency power, backup systems, and operational continuity planning. Those are essential considerations. But resilience also depends on the elements that quietly protect a facility every day, including the building envelope.

Aging curtain wall systems are one example. Over time, glazing systems, sealants, gaskets, and other enclosure components naturally deteriorate. Deferred maintenance can accelerate that process. When these systems are exposed to extreme winds, vulnerabilities that remained hidden for years can suddenly become disruptive operational issues.

What concerns me most is not the damage itself. It is what happens after.

If portions of the building envelope fail, healthcare organizations may face uncontrolled water intrusion; hot, humid air entering the facility; concerns related to occupant comfort and biological growth; equipment damage; and disruptions to operations and patient care. The effects and costs of that disruption can be far greater than the physical repairs needed to address the initial damage.

A curtain wall failure is not simply a façade issue. In a healthcare environment, it can become an operational problem with direct consequences for staff, patients, and continuity of care.

Resilient healthcare facilities are not created through reactive repairs after a storm. They are built through deliberate planning, ongoing evaluation, consistent maintenance, and investments made before vulnerabilities become failures.

By understanding how aging systems may perform against today’s hazards, facility owners can make informed decisions, prioritize resources, and develop practical road maps for future improvements. The objective is not necessarily to eliminate every potential risk. It is to understand those risks well enough to manage them strategically and proactively.

Early evaluation also gives healthcare organizations time. Instead of being forced to respond after a failure, leaders can plan improvements, coordinate work with facility operations, and incorporate priorities into capital budgets.

As extreme weather continues to challenge healthcare infrastructure, organizations that invest in resilience will be better positioned to maintain operations, support caregivers, and serve their communities.