New York State Health Emergency Preparedness Coalition (NYSHEPC)
Healthcare Training Centers (HTCs) are grant-funded entities tasked with identification, coordination, development, delivery, and/or evaluation of emergency preparedness training for members of the Healthcare Emergency Preparedness Coalitions.
History of Regional Resource Centers & NYSDOH Hospital Preparedness Program
In 2002–2003, Federal funding was allocated to support planning and infrastructure development to prepare New York State healthcare systems to respond to bioterrorism, outbreaks of infectious diseases, and other public health threats and emergencies. This resulted in the identification of 8 Regional Resource Centers (RRC) strategically located in the following tertiary care/trauma centers across NYS: Erie County Medical Center, University of Rochester Medical Center/Strong Memorial Hospital, University Hospital/SUNY Upstate, Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital, Albany Medical Center, Westchester Medical Center, North Shore University Hospital, University Hospital Stony Brook.
Between 2003 and 2012, the 8 RRCs coordinated planning and developed the infrastructure needed to prepare healthcare systems within their respective region for all hazards and public health emergencies. Each RRC developed a regional inventory of resources, identified and addressed workforce training needs, assisted in exercises to identify and address gaps in regional disaster response capability and enhanced/refined plans to improve surge capacity in the regions. This included outreach to planning partners at hospitals, home care, long-term care, local health departments, emergency management services, emergency management offices and other allied support organizations.
Introducing Health Emergency Preparedness Coalitions
In 2012, the federal guidance required states to develop healthcare coalitions. NYSDOH Office of Health Emergency Preparedness (OHEP) introduced a revised structure reducing the 8 RRC regions to 4 coalition areas. The 4 Health Emergency Preparedness Coalitions (HEPC) are led by the NYSDOH Regional Office Director. The core focus of these HEPCs is on integrating and coordinating Emergency Support Function (ESF)-8 activities as they apply to healthcare and public health emergency planning and response. The 8 RRCs were renamed Healthcare Training Centers (HTC) with a revised mission to focus on workforce training needs.
Healthcare Training Centers
In 2014, the national HPP funding was drastically reduced. As a result, NYSDOH OHEP made the decision to reduce the number of funded HTCs through a competitive RFP process. Three agencies were selected to provide training to the HEPC regions during the time period of July 2014 - June 2017. In July 2017, SUNY Upstate Medical University became a Healthcare Training Center for the Central New York HEPC Region. The HTCs operating today are:
- SUNY Upstate Medical University: Central Region
- University of Rochester Medical Center: Western Region
- Albany Medical Center: Capital District Region
- Northwell Health : Metropolitan Area Region (Long Island & Mid-Hudson).
Healthcare Training Centers (HTCs) are grant-funded entities tasked with identification, coordination, development, delivery, and/or evaluation of emergency preparedness training for members of the Healthcare Emergency Preparedness Coalitions. HTCs are funded by the New York State Department of Health (DOH) through the national Hospital Preparedness Program (HPP) grant.
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