The Department of Health and Human Services today awarded Hospital Preparedness Program grants to Nebraska Medicine in Omaha and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston to conduct pilot projects to demonstrate the potential effectiveness and viability of a Regional Disaster Health Response System. They received $3 million each for projects to build a partnership for disaster health response to support clinical specialty care; align plans, policies and procedures for clinical excellence in disasters; increase state and regional medical surge capacity; improve situational awareness, such as the availability of hospital beds; and develop metrics and test the regional system’s capabilities. The regional system will build on local health care coalitions and trauma centers, creating a tiered system of disaster care.

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention yesterday issued an advisory on the Ebola disease outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda.…
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The World Health Organization May 17 declared a public health emergency of international concern due to an Ebola outbreak. The WHO said that as of May 16,…
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The Utah measles outbreak has increased to 583 cases, the state’s Department of Health and Human Services reported April 7. Of those, 386 cases have been…
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Cases in the Utah measles outbreak have increased to 559, the state’s Department of Health and Human Services reported March 31. The agency said 362 cases have…
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The AHA Feb. 18 responded to a request for information from Reps. Neal Dunn, R-Fla., and Lori Trahan, D-Mass., on the potential reauthorization of the Pandemic…
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The measles outbreak in South Carolina has increased to 876 cases, the state’s Department of Public Health reported Feb. 3. Last week, the South Carolina…