The Center Supports Emergency Preparedness Planning Efforts for Northeast Ohio
Cleveland, OH (PRWEB) July 10, 2014 -- Since 2003, The Center for Health Affairs has been supporting its emergency preparedness initiative by enhancing emergency preparedness planning in the region to increase individual and regional hospital preparedness, and strengthen partnerships with members in public health departments, public safety organizations and other community healthcare entities.
Some of The Center’s recent efforts include:
- Earlier this year, The Center supported recovery tabletop exercises that were held in five counties throughout Northeast Ohio. These exercises provided an opportunity for all response agencies that work together in each county to meet and discuss priority restoration of services as well as what each agency needs from the others to ensure citizen services are restored as soon as possible after an emergency event.
- On May 15, The Center, the Ohio Department of Health and the Ohio Hospital Association hosted a free healthcare forum, Difficult Choices in Crisis Standards of Care. This event allowed healthcare providers to discuss their views, values and perceptions regarding crisis standards of care decisions as well as the personal and professional implications of being involved in making and implementing scarce resource allocations in an emergency.
- In late May, The Center supported mass fatality emergency preparedness planning efforts in Lorain County where Frank Miller, MD, chief deputy coroner, Lorain County Coroner, trained first responders on how to assist with scene preservation and body identification. The Center also assisted with developing a tabletop exercise with multiagency responders to test the current Lorain County Fatality Management Plan with area member hospitals. Planning for a future functional exercise is in development.
- The International Gay Games 9 is coming to Cleveland in August. The Center’s team is working to ensure area hospitals’ staff and the community’s security teams are prepared and able to meet participants’ and attendees’ needs while assisting hospitals with monitoring for potential infectious disease(s) appearing in emergency rooms.
“We work hard to create events, discussion and exercises that will improve our community’s ability to respond to emergencies, big or small.” said Andrea Bishop, BSN, emergency preparedness project manager, The Center for Health Affairs. “Our long-term goal is to develop a regional healthcare network that is able to work together as efficiently as possible with response partners in times of disaster.”
If you would like more information on this initiative or have questions about the emergency preparedness planning above, please contact Andrea Bishop via email or at 216.255.3662, or Beth Gatlin, RN, MA-HSM, ASPR project director, The Center for Health Affairs, via email or at 216.255.3665.
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As the leading advocate for Northeast Ohio hospitals, The Center for Health Affairs provides members with vital services and resources aimed at enhancing the region’s healthcare community. The Center delivers on this goal by focusing its efforts on areas that benefit from a regional approach: Healthcare Workforce; Emergency Preparedness; Public Policy & Advocacy; Finance & Reimbursement; and Community Initiatives. With a rich history as the Northeast Ohio hospital association, dating back to 1916, The Center serves as the collective voice of hospitals and the source for Northeast Ohio hospital and healthcare information. As leaders, we continuously scan the periphery, looking for opportunities to enhance the region’s workforce, better prepare our hospitals for an emergency, and increase the region’s wage index. And because of our business affiliation with CHAMPS Healthcare, we have the resources to provide a broad level of professional services to our members. The Center, located in downtown Cleveland, is proud to advocate on behalf of 38 acute-care hospitals and two long-term acute-care hospitals in six counties. For more, visit chanet.org.
Deanna Moore, The Center for Health Affairs, http://www.chanet.org, +1 216.255.3614, [email protected]
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