News

HHS Provides $430 Million to States to Enhance Hospital and Other Health Care Facilities Preparedness for Public Health Emergencies

via PRNewswire

06/28/2007

WASHINGTON, June 29 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt today announced a total of $430 million in awards to states, territories and four major metropolitan areas to strengthen the ability of hospitals and other health care facilities to respond to bioterror attacks, infectious diseases, and natural disasters that may cause mass casualties.

"These grants are an important addition to national security because our hospitals and other health care facilities play such a critical role in responding to a terrorist attack, an infectious disease outbreak, and natural disasters," Secretary Leavitt said. "States and communities can use these funds to improve emergency care during a health crisis."

Health departments in the states, territories and metro areas of New York City , Chicago , Los Angeles County and Washington, D.C. receiving the federal funds will use them to improve the readiness of hospitals and other health care facilities in their jurisdictions. The goal is to strengthen medical surge capability across the nation. Recipients will use the funds develop or improve:

-- interoperable communications, -- systems to track available hospital beds, -- advance registration of volunteer health professionals, and -- planning for both fatality management and hospital evacuations.

Congress transferred oversight of the grant program from the Health Resources and Services Administration to the new HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response with passage of the Pandemic and All Hazards Preparedness Act of 2006.

Also new for this year is the $15 million Healthcare Facilities Partnership Program. Congress asked HHS to award competitive grants or cooperative agreements to eligible health care partnerships to enhance community and hospital preparedness for public health emergencies. The $15 million will be awarded through a competitive process resulting in 6-30 cooperative agreement awards for regional partnerships that may range from $500,000 - $2.5 million.

"The goal of the new program is to develop innovative and creative projects that can be replicated across the country," said HHS Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response RADM Craig Vanderwagen, MD, USPHS. "These partnerships will require close coordination among health officials from state, local and private sectors."

In the five years HHS has provided funding to increase hospital and health care facility preparedness, a total of more than $2 billion has been made available. Fiscal Year 2007 awards are contained in the following table.

Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are available at https://www.hhs.gov/news.

State Funding Alabama $6,330,289 Alaska $1,349,441 Arizona $8,317,173 Arkansas $4,063,403 California $34,106,620 Chicago $4,103,521 Colorado $6,525,958 Connecticut $4,943,121 Delaware $1,581,970 District of Columbia $1,737,218 Florida $23,432,938 Georgia $12,370,869 Hawaii $2,129,653 Idaho $2,359,069 Illinois $13,163,842 Indiana $8,503,785 Iowa $4,280,453 Kansas $4,004,077 Kentucky $5,832,130 Los Angeles County $13,111,395 Louisiana $5,935,695 Maine $2,175,388 Maryland $7,619,177 Massachusetts $8,660,567 Michigan $13,298,463 Minnesota $7,050,445 Mississippi $4,189,754 Missouri $7,906,932 Montana $1,697,530 Nebraska $2,741,751 Nevada $3,663,636 New Hampshire $2,166,921 New Jersey $11,560,312 New Mexico $2,977,887 New York $14,561,258 New York City $10,913,604 North Carolina $11,727,581 North Dakota $1,306,102 Ohio $15,050,914 Oklahoma $5,037,444 Oregon $5,191,530 Pennsylvania $16,271,242 Puerto Rico $5,479,326 Rhode Island $1,853,432 South Carolina $5,978,140 South Dakota $1,491,255 Tennessee $8,155,520 Texas $30,301,320 Utah $3,732,769 Vermont $1,290,942 Virginia $10,189,048 Washington $8,608,090 West Virginia $2,805,313 Wisconsin $7,544,102 Wyoming $1,152,882 Guam (US) $457,390 Virgin Islands (US) $387,946 Federated States of Micronesia $387,095 Northern Marianas Islands (US) $346,510 American Samoa (US) $323,330 Marshall Islands $321,536 Palau $274,996 Total $415,032,000.00 Partnership Program $15,000,000.00 Grand Total $430,032,000.00

SOURCE U.S. Department of Health and Human Services