New York State Department of Health 2006 – 2010 Emergency Preparedness Grants
New York State Department of Health (DOH) has awarded grants to CHC since 2006 that help increase the readiness of the home care industry and enable a quick response to any type of emergency situation that may arise.
From 2006 – 2010, CHC was awarded yearly grants to help ready home and community-based providers in emergency situations which are outlined below:
Emergency Preparedness HPN transition to HCS and Compliance
CHC was awarded the New York State Emergency Preparedness Grant in 2010-11, with a focus on continuing to ensure compliance with HPN and outreach efforts to make providers aware of the change from HPN to HCS. Efforts included telemarketing to all home care providers across New York, an email campaign and creation of an Emergency Preparedness Palm Card with information about maintaining and updating HCS. These cards were distributed at CHC events and programs and at the HCP Annual Management Conference & Exhibition.
Emergency Preparedness Grant - HPN Compliance and H1N1 Vaccines
In 2009-10, the New York State Department of Health (DOH) and the Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA) awarded CHC with a grant for CHC to provide education, outreach and support for home care agencies to support compliance with DOH’s Health Provider Network (HPN) communication requirements and H1N1 vaccination guidelines.
CHC developed FAQs on HPN Compliance and developed a telemarketing outreach campaign to all home care agencies across New York State to ensure that all agencies kept their HPN up-to-date. Public relations efforts to generate awareness of this program were also developed, along with a stream of articles in the HCP weekly e-newsletter, the HCP Insider. Information on vaccines was also provided to home care agencies throughout the grant period.
Emergency/Bioterrorism Preparedness Grant, 2008/09 Shelter In Place/Surge Capacity
In 2008-09, CHC collaborated with DOH staff on the development of guidelines for shelter in place, and conducted five regional outreach sessions led by Katharine Logan, Non-Acute Care Coordinator for the Emergency Preparedness Program for DOH. Over 200 home care professionals across New York State received valuable information including updated contact information for New York State DOH Regional Offices, New York State DOH Duty Officer, New York State Offices of Emergency Management, guidance regarding use of medical functional shelters, and supply resources for near and distant evacuation sites.
CHC recorded additional webinars of the material presented in the 2008/09 Bioterrorism Preparedness Programs to improve access to information on emergency preparedness. To access these programs, click here.
Emergency Preparedness 2007/08 Emergency Response Readiness
CHC received funding from DOH in 2007-08 to assist home care agencies with implementation of practices and procedures to prepare for a pandemic or other regional emergency. In 2008, CHC helped DOH inventory the skills of workers to identify what skills would be available in the event of an emergency. A home care advisory committee made up of members from CHC affiliate, the New York State Association of Health Care Providers, Inc. (HCP), was formed to provide input into the development of a home care surge template. CHC also held six outreach sessions across New York State with CHC project staff and Katharine Logan, Non-Acute Care Coordinator for the Emergency Preparedness Program for DOH. More than 200 home care professionals attended these regional forums in collaboration with HCP Chapters to review the surge template and its use.
Emergency Preparedness 2006/07 All-Hazard Emergency Preparedness/Pandemic Flu and Public Health Emergencies/Community Volunteers
In 2006/07 CHC was awarded a grant from DOH to develop comprehensive educational programs to provide critically important information for home care workers and community volunteers when dealing with a wide range of emergency situations. Each program focuses on different areas of outreach during an emergency and are available in both English and Spanish.
Two of the programs are designed for paraprofessionals and the third program helps prepare community volunteers to understand the role of home health care workers in such an emergency event. CHC’s Emergency Preparedness programs are available in the HCP Shoppe.