News Releases

Congress Begins Work to Authorize Funding for Emergency Preparedness Activities

Facing a Sept. 30 expiration date, this year Congress must reauthorize funding for the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act (PAHPA), legislation last enacted in 2019 that funds regional emergency preparedness activities including here in Northeast Ohio.

The Center for Health Affairs’ Emergency Preparedness Program is crucial to ensuring the region is prepared to respond to a natural or manmade disaster or public health crisis by working with area hospitals and other partners to strengthen their capabilities. The program coordinates 27 acute care hospitals and dozens of additional partners over a five-county region, including Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake and Lorain counties.

Funded through annual grants from the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR), key activities include building on and testing the regional all hazards preparedness plan, providing training and education to hospitals and partners, and serving as a critical communication link. In years past, grant funding also supported needed equipment and supply purchases for the hospitals and for the regional stockpile. This work, which has been ongoing since 2002, helped facilitate a coordinated response to the COVID-19 pandemic among area hospitals, public health and other partners.

Activities under this year’s grant include:

• Holding the annual Northeast Ohio Healthcare Coalition (HCC) conference, which is free of cost to HCC member organizations and provides tailored education opportunities.
• Updating the annexes to the regional response plan, including those for radiation, pediatric, and burn surge.
• Assisting with the implementation and testing of EmResource and EmTrac, systems that are used to monitor bed availability and track patients during emergency events.
• Supporting the National Disaster Medical System exercise in July.

Under the program, The Center also coordinates situational awareness regarding severe weather events. This includes sending out alerts notifying regional hospitals and requesting status updates on their facilities, hospital command centers, bed availability, and emergency department status.

AHA Response to Senate Request for Stakeholder Input

As it plans for funding reauthorization, the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee requested input from stakeholders aimed at improving efficiency and effectiveness. In response, the American Hospital Association (AHA) offered a number of recommendations, including:

1. Update the federal organizational structure for emergencies.

   The AHA strongly urges that the PAHPA legislation require the development of a more deliberate plan that better defines which federal entity is responsible for each aspect of the response and recovery. AHA referenced a lack of clarity about which federal agency is responsible for each aspect of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency.

2. Strengthen the national medical supply chain.

   Congress is urged to strengthen the supply chain by diversifying manufacturing sites and raw material sources; supporting advancements in reuse and reprocessing technologies to mitigate supply challenges while decreasing waste and environmental impact; investing in new product development; developing and adapting certain data standards to aid in early detection and mitigation of supply shortages; and increasing end user inventories and incentivizing them to keep additional supplies stocked.

3. Improve the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS).

   AHA recommends a number of steps, including requiring the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) to develop an easy-to-understand and real-time system healthcare providers can use to learn what products are available in the SNS and in what amount; require ASPR to employ a vendor-managed inventory system; and require increased clinician and healthcare operations input into SNS planning.

4. Increase funding for the Hospital Preparedness Program (HPP).

   It is suggested that HPP authorization should be at least doubled for fiscal years 2024 through 2029. AHA suggested this investment would help prepare and equipe the nationwide healthcare system in advance of future disasters and public health emergencies. AHA also recommends PAHPA include additional dedicated, direct-to-hospital funding that will supplement current investments and help rebuild the program after years of underfunding.

5. Strengthen healthcare cybersecurity.

   Given the increase in hacking and ransomware attacks, AHA asks that the appropriate federal agencies help hospitals and health systems enhance their emergency preparedness, response, resiliency and recovery capabilities related to cyberattacks and that federal agencies provide emergency response for high impact cyberattacks targeting hospitals and health systems.

The COVID-19 pandemic illustrated just how critical these preparedness activities are to the ability of hospitals, public health and other partners to coordinate a response to a widescale event. The reauthorization of PAHPA this year is essential to this ongoing work.