On Jan. 20, the American Hospital Association (AHA) announced a five-year partnership with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to reinforce and reexplore the emergency management system for the nation’s healthcare and public health preparedness, response and recovery efforts for disasters and other emergencies.
The release on the partnership states that “The multi-million-dollar, five-year funding period through the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary of Preparedness and Response (ASPR) is focused on community health resilience, national health security lessons learned from the ongoing pandemic and providing technical assistance across sectors.”
That said, “The partnership will tap into the AHA’s nearly 5,000 hospital and health systems, as well as over 43,000 individual members. The AHA membership reflects 90 percent of the nation’s facilities, uniquely positioning the organization to help lead changes to emergency and preparedness strategy. The program will convene a cross-section of healthcare and public health leaders who prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters and other emergencies in order to identify and share valuable lessons learned and promising practices from the pandemic. Through these initiatives, informed by members and key stakeholders, the project positions the AHA to provide feedback on relevant federal policy issues and initiatives.”
Michelle Hood, executive vice president and COO of AHA was quoted in the release saying that “The AHA considers emergency and disaster preparedness paramount to the health and well-being of hospitals and health systems. As learned throughout the current pandemic, the ability to identify and disseminate crucial information during the formative moments of a crisis cannot be taken for granted. That is why we are so pleased to begin this partnership with ASPR, where we can work together to create meaningful changes to the awareness and readiness of disaster response. This collaboration will help save lives and strengthen the overall state of public health in this nation.”
The funding partnership has already begun as of the fall of 2021 and will run to 2026.
