Suzanne K. Condon, MS¹, Cynthia A. Larson, MPA², Dawn Baxter, MBA³, and Brenda Wagenkneckht-Ivey, PhD³. (1) Center for Environmental Health and Center for Emergency Preparedness, Massachusetts Department of Public Health, 250 Washington Street, Boston, MA 02108, 617-624-5757, suzanne.condon@state.ma.us, (2) Center for Emergency Preparedness, Massachusetts Department of Public Health, 250 Washington Street, Boston, MA 02108, (3) Policy Studies Inc., 675 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139

Emergencies rarely happen within community boundaries. As part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) public health emergency preparedness directive, states were charged with enhancing the capacity of contiguous communities to respond to public health emergencies. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) was challenged to develop regional mechanisms to fund and support local public health emergency preparedness among the Commonwealth’s 351 cities and towns. Working with Policy Studies Inc. (PSI), MDPH designed and implemented a flexible, phased, and results-oriented process to develop sustainable, regional public health coalitions across the state. Interviews with key stakeholders and a review of regional development in other states informed the development of this process. To build support for and increase understanding of the process, MDPH and PSI invited local public health officials to attend facilitated meetings throughout the state. The purpose of the meetings was to: 1) introduce the coalition-forming process; and 2) provide information on dispersal of emergency preparedness funding to newly established regional coalitions. Local public health officials were encouraged to identify existing networks and relationships to serve as springboards for developing regional coalitions. Each meeting resulted in: 1) the formation of regional coalitions; 2) identification of temporary host agencies; and 3) plans for continuing emergency preparedness work in each region.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify key challenges and successful approaches for establishing regional coalitions to enhance public health emergency preparedness
• Define strategies for innovative uses of bioterrorism funds to enhance local public health infrastructure

Keywords: Bioterrorism, Local Public Health Agencies

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.