News Releases

Emergency Preparedness Grant Application Submitted for Next Funding Year

Under The Center for Health Affairs’ most recent request, the region would receive $1.43 million in federal emergency preparedness funding during the upcoming year. The grant application, which was submitted earlier this month, calls for the same level of funding that the region is currently receiving under the program this year. The Center will be notified in mid-June regarding the outcome of the grant application.

These emergency preparedness funds, which are made available through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR), will be allocated to 27 eligible hospitals in the five-county region based on emergency department visits. This funding cycle will run from July 1, 2012, through June 30, 2017, with annual applications for renewal.

According to next year’s program objectives, the grant funds will be used to focus on healthcare coalition development to ensure the community will be able to access priority services in an emergency event. Funds will also be used in other concentrated areas including healthcare recovery, emergency operations, healthcare worker safety, information sharing, mass fatality and volunteer management.

Meanwhile, The Center’s ASPR Project Director Beth Gatlin, RN, MA-HSM, and The Center's Emergency Preparedness Project Manager Andrea Bishop, BSN, passed the Certified Healthcare Emergency Professional (CHEP) Examination, ideal for healthcare professionals working in any position where emergency preparedness and accreditation is a primary concern.

The 1.5-day CHEP preparatory course was offered in seven regions across Ohio. Only 150 professionals around the state sat for the three-hour certification exam developed by a “volunteer beta team” consisting of more than 45 healthcare emergency managers and/or coordinators from across the U.S.

For more information on The Center’s emergency preparedness initiative, contact Beth Gatlin at 216.255.3665 or beth.gatlin@chanet.org.