Beyond the Storm: Defense Health Network Continues to Prepare Military Treatment Facilities to Restore Care During Crises

Beyond the Storm: Defense Health Network Continues to Prepare Military Treatment Facilities to Restore Care During Crises

FALLS CHURCH, Va. — Natural and man-made disasters can strike with little warning, putting communities and critical infrastructure at risk. When a hurricane batters a coastline, a tornado rips through a community, or a cyberattack takes a critical electronic system offline, the visible damage often takes center stage. Behind the scenes, the military health system moves quickly to restore access to life-saving care.

The Defense Health Network Continental, a regional military medical network of 26 military medical treatment facilities spanning across the United States, actively works with its facilities to develop emergency scenario plans to prepare them for future unexpected crises. Once the network and the facilities finalize their plans, they are tested through a rigorous, continuous series of simulated disaster scenarios throughout the year.

“Our ultimate mission is uninterrupted patient care,” said Maj. Gen. Jeannine M. Ryder, director of Defense Health Network Continental. “By rigorously testing our capabilities and procedures and openly sharing our lessons learned, we ensure our medical professionals remain resilient and our teams stand ready to support the warfighter and their families.”

The Critical Link Between Preparedness and Access to Care

An MTF shutdown does not simply mean a pause in business — it directly interrupts treatment, delays surgeries, and compromises patient safety. In this environment, emergency preparedness is a lifeline to maintaining uninterrupted patient care.

Since 2025, Defense Health Network Continental network and MTF emergency planners have proactively conducted comprehensive exercises to test the Defense Health Agency’s mandates for MTF facilities. While these drills evaluate responses to severe weather, mass casualties, and shelter-in-place scenarios, they also target internal, systemic threats that can instantly cripple a facility’s ability to function.

“These tabletop exercises push our facilities to their breaking point in a controlled environment,” said Christopher Dun, emergency manager for Defense Health Network Continental. “If we find a vulnerability in our continuity of operations, we want to find it during a tabletop, not during a real-world crisis.”

For instance, a January 2026 tabletop exercise focused entirely on a catastrophic failure of a medical instrument sterilizer. A shortage of sterile surgical instruments will force an immediate shutdown of operating rooms. By gaming this scenario, MTF leadership developed actionable continuity of operations plans, such as emergency local resource-sharing and patient-diversion protocols to route and restore surgical care with minimal delay.

A Culture of Continuous Readiness

The success of these exercises relies on a meticulously crafted educational framework. Rather than focusing solely on evaluation, Defense Health Network Continental uses these tabletop events as critical training opportunities.

Prior to an exercise, network planners host preparatory meetings with targeted MTF leadership and subject-matter experts. These sessions educate key MTF staff on threat basics, such as preparing for damaging winds or cyber vulnerabilities, and align facility response strategies with overarching Defense Health Agency policies.

Once an exercise concludes, the learning phase begins. Planners develop comprehensive action items, targeted timelines, and working recovery playbooks, distributing these critical tools across Defense Health Network Continental. These resources are shared with external stakeholders, including the Defense Health Agency's emergency management and planning directorates, while insights are distilled into formal situation reports to keep senior leadership fully informed on network readiness.

The Logistics of Recovery: The Supply Chain Lifeline

Medical emergencies require more than just clinical expertise; they demand coordinated support from every corner of the healthcare system. While clinical staff serve as the face of patient care, administrative teams provide the logistical backbone. To reinforce this vital support, Defense Health Network Continental is expanding its focus on emergency supply chain logistics as a cornerstone of its readiness strategy.

“When a crisis hits, our community relies on us to serve as a safe haven,” said Col. Saunya Bright, director of the 366th Medical Group at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho. “Practicing the logistics of recovery means we spend less time reacting to the disaster and more time rapidly restoring access to life-saving care for our patients.”

By practicing rapid execution of emergency logistics, MTF facilities ensure they can legally and swiftly acquire the tools necessary to reopen their doors.

Building a Resilient Network

The Defense Health Network Continental emergency management exercise tabletop program aims for more than a perfect score on a simulated test. Instead, planners use it to build institutional muscle memory and robust multi-disciplinary teamwork.

Whether facing a catastrophic hurricane, an unforeseen software collapse, or an emergent facility repair, military treatment facility staff must maintain and quickly restore access to healthcare. Through rigorous planning, collaborative problem-solving, and a commitment to shared learning, MTFs ensure they remain a reliable care center, no matter the crisis.

“The collaboration among MTFs on emergency management issues demonstrates the focus the network is taking to ensure beneficiaries and servicemembers received their healthcare after a natural disaster,” said Ryder.