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HHS to Provide Over $1 Billion in Grants for Public Health and Hospital Preparedness

By Brooke Courtney, June 6, 2008

On June 3, 2008, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Mike Leavitt announced that the agency is allocating nearly $1.1 billion for the FY2008 Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) and Hospital Preparedness Program (HPP) cooperative agreements.¹ According to a CIDRAP News article on June 3, this represents a decrease of $223 million in program funding from the previous fiscal year.² HHS also announced that this is the first year it plans to implement PHEP and HPP accountability provisions stipulated in the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act (PAHPA, P.L.109-417), which means that FY2009 (Budget Period 10) preparedness funds can be withheld from awardees that fail to meet performance measures.^1-3

Through the PHEP cooperative agreement, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will provide $704.8 million in FY 2008 – down from $896 million in FY 2007 and a high of $918 million in FY 2002 – to health departments in states, territories, and the metro areas of New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C. ^1,2,4 The funding breakdown is as follows: base plus population funding ($629 million), Cities Readiness Initiative ($64 million), Level 1 chemical laboratory ($7 million), and Early Warning Infectious Disease Surveillance (EWIDS) ($4 million).³

These funds, which are part of Budget Period 9 (August 10, 2008-August 9, 2009), are “intended to upgrade public health departments’ preparedness and response to all hazards public health emergencies” by:

• Integrating public health, public and private medical capabilities, and other first responder systems;
• Addressing public health and medical needs of at-risk populations (e.g., children, individuals with chronic medical conditions) during emergencies; and
• Assuring coordination of planning, preparedness, and response activities among states, locals, and tribes.¹

Through the HPP cooperative agreement, the HHS Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) will award $398 million – down from $430 million in 2007 – to improve readiness and strengthen the surge capacity of hospitals and other health care organizations in states, territories, and metropolitan areas.^1,2 The funds are to be used to improve or finalize the development of:

• Interoperable communications systems,
• Hospital bed tracking systems,
• Advance registration of volunteer health professionals (ESAR-VHP),
• Hospital evacuation and sheltering-in-place processes,
• Fatality management processes,
• Health care partnerships at the community level.¹

According to Secretary Leavitt, “[s]tates and local communities need to be supported because they are the front lines of response in a health emergency.”¹ Leavitt also stated that, “[t]hese funds will continue to enhance community readiness by increasing the capabilities of health departments, hospitals and health care delivery systems to respond to any public health emergency.”¹

References

1. HHS provides more than $1 billion to improve all hazards public health. Department of Health and Human Services. June 3, 2008. http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2008pres/06/20080603a.html. Accessed June 4, 2008.
2. Schnirring L. HHS announces preparedness grants for public health, hospitals. CIDRAP News. June 3, 2008. http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/influenza/panflu/news/jun0308funding-jw.html. Accessed June 4, 2008.
3. Program announcement AA154 - FY 2008 (Budget Period 9). Department of Health and Human Services. May 29, 2008. http://www.bt.cdc.gov/planning/coopagreement/08/pdf/fy08announcement.pdf. Accessed June 5, 2008.
4. Federal funding for public health emergency preparedness: implications and ongoing issues for local health departments. National Association of County & City Health Officials (NACCHO). August 2007. http://www.naccho.org/documents/SurveyReport_Final.pdf. Accessed June 5, 2008.