News Releases

Hospital Emergency Preparedness Program Funding Announced

The Center for Health Affairs has been awarded $809,344 in hospital emergency preparedness funds for the 2015-2016 fiscal year. These funds, awarded through the Ohio Department of Health and the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR), the division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services responsible for responding to and preparing for public health emergencies, were announced in July.

As was anticipated, this year’s funding amount is 8 percent less than last year’s funding. Over the past 10 years, federal hospital emergency preparedness grant funding has decreased by more than 50 percent. A decline is expected to continue for the next several grant periods. 

“The ASPR grant will allow us to provide each of our member hospitals between $9,000 and $30,000 to help prepare their facilities for emergencies such as chemical spills, power outages, mass casualties, information system failures and terrorist events,” said Beth Gatlin, RN, MA-HSM, ASPR project director, The Center for Health Affairs. “The majority of federal emergency preparedness funds received through ASPR will flow directly to member hospitals as opposed to being retained by the state department of health.”

Communication, functional needs issues, exercises and training as well as preparing for the Republican National Convention in July 2016 will remain a planning priority throughout the funding year, which runs from July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016. As part of the individualized consulting provided to members, The Center will work with each member to prioritize the use of hospital emergency preparedness funds in order to improve each hospital’s emergency preparedness and ultimately to ensure the safety of the patients, employees and the facility infrastructure.

If you have comments, questions or concerns about the region’s hospital emergency preparedness funds, please contact Beth Gatlin via email or at 216.255.3665, or Andrea Bishop, BSN, emergency preparedness project manager, via email or at 216.255.3662.