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From Crisis to Readiness: Hospital & Nursing Home Insights from the Maui, Palisades, & Eaton Wildfires

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Friday, May 15, 2026, 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. PT.

10:00 a.m. to 11 a.m. Hawaii Time

In 2023 and 2025, the Maui, Palisades, and Eaton fires pushed hospitals, nursing homes, public health agencies, and emergency responders to their limits. These fires forced urgent evacuations that tested emergency preparedness plans across the healthcare system. This webinar brings together firsthand insights on what worked, where challenges emerged, and how lessons learned can strengthen emergency preparedness across all provider types.

Objectives

  • Identify what nursing and healthcare staff did well and where gaps occurred during wildfire responses.
  • Examine ways to strengthen staff-level emergency preparedness using facility and coalition best practices.
  • Discover how to improve patient safety by applying staff-focused lessons from recent emergencies.

Who Should Attend? 

  • Hospitals, nursing homes, clinics, and other healthcare providers 
  • Health departments, emergency preparedness partners, and other stakeholders

Presenters

  • Hilton Raethel, MPH, MHA; CEO, Healthcare Association of Hawaii
  • Jason Belden; Director, Emergency Preparedness & Physical Plant Services, California Association of Health Facilities 
  • Jennifer Waldron, MBA-HCM, BSN, RN; Disaster Coordinator, Huntington Health, Pasadena, California
     
CEUs: HSAG approved by the Florida Board of Clinical Social Work, Florida Board of Nursing, Florida Council of Dietetics and Nutrition, Florida Board of Nursing Home Administrators, and Florida Board of Pharmacy for 1 Contact Hour (CE Broker #20-1362499). Pending approval.