Healthcare Facility Drill Results

A recent drill conducted from January to June 2026 involved actors visiting 73 healthcare facilities across various locations. The majority were in New York City (52), with an additional 15 in other parts of New York, three in New Jersey, and three in the US Virgin Islands, which the US considers part of the same health region.

During the drill, actors primarily went to emergency departments (42 out of 73 visits), but they also visited hospital outpatient clinics (19) and urgent care centers (12). These facilities had agreed to participate, though they were not informed beforehand about the drill schedule.

Disappointing Outcomes

In total, only 60 percent (44 of 73) of the facilities effectively masked and isolated the actors. The performance was lower in emergency departments, where only about 55 percent met the criteria, compared to 68 percent of clinics and 67 percent of urgent care centers. Alarmingly, 18 percent of the facilities did not provide a mask to an actor portraying a patient with a cough and fever.

Among those that did manage to mask and isolate, less than half (43 percent) achieved this within the target of one minute, and fewer than half (48 percent) managed to relocate the patient to an isolation room within the 10-minute goal. On average, outpatient clinics took about 20 minutes to isolate a patient, with at least one clinic taking nearly an hour. The median time to mask was two minutes, while the median time to isolation was 11 minutes.

Most healthcare facilities (93 percent) screened the actor for symptoms; however, staff at only seven out of 73 facilities asked specific questions regarding bird flu exposure, which seems quite inadequate given the scenario. Additionally, healthcare providers who engaged with the actors did not consistently adhere to proper personal protective equipment guidelines. Only 25 percent wore all recommended PPE, while 6 percent wore none at all. Moreover, 19 percent of clinicians didn’t use a mask or respirator. Only 40 out of the 73 facilities (55 percent) followed through with notifications to their internal Infection Prevention and Control staff as recommended.

The low pass rates and prolonged response times are concerning. The authors pointed out that “Health care facility waiting areas can be high-risk settings for transmission of respiratory viruses if appropriate IPC measures are not implemented.”

These disappointing results could also lead to an overestimation of actual preparedness. Not every healthcare facility invited to take part in the drills agreed to it, and those that chose not to participate might have performed even worse. Additionally, although the drills were supposed to be unannounced, some facilities might have had prior knowledge, possibly skewing the results in their favor.