New York State Health Emergency Preparedness Coalition

History of Regional Resource Centers (RRC), Regional Training Centers (RTC), Health Emergency Preparedness Training Centers (HTC) & the NYSDOH Hospital Preparedness Program

In 2002–2003, Federal funding was allocated to support planning and infrastructure development to prepare New York State healthcare systems to respond to bioterrorism, outbreaks of infectious diseases, and other public health threats and emergencies. This resulted in the identification of 8 Regional Resource Centers (RRC) strategically located in the following tertiary care/trauma centers across NYS:  Erie County Medical Center, University of Rochester Medical Center/Strong Memorial Hospital, University Hospital/SUNY Upstate, Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital,  Albany Medical Center, Westchester Medical Center, North Shore University Hospital, University Hospital Stony Brook.

Between 2003 and 2012, the 8 RRCs coordinated planning and developed the infrastructure needed to prepare healthcare systems within their respective region for all hazards and public health emergencies.  Each RRC developed a regional inventory of resources, identified and addressed workforce training needs, assisted in exercises to identify and address gaps in regional disaster response capability and enhanced/refined plans to improve surge capacity in the regions. This included outreach to planning partners at hospitals, home care, long-term care, local health departments, emergency management services, emergency management offices and other allied support organizations.

Introducing Health Emergency Preparedness Coalitions (HEPC)

In 2012, the federal guidance required states to develop healthcare coalitions. NYSDOH Office of Health Emergency Preparedness (OHEP) introduced a revised structure reducing the 8 RRC regions to 4 coalition areas. The 4 Health Emergency Preparedness Coalitions (HEPC) are led by the NYSDOH Regional Office Director.  The core focus of these HEPCs is on integrating and coordinating Emergency Support Function (ESF)-8 activities as they apply to healthcare and public health emergency planning and response. The 8 RRCs were renamed Regional Training Centers (RTC) with a revised mission to focus on workforce training needs.
NYS HEPC MAP

Regional Training Centers (RTC)

In 2014, the national HPP funding was drastically reduced.  As a result, NYSDOH OHEP made the decision to reduced the number of funded RTCs through a competitive RFP process.  Three agencies: University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC), Albany Medical Center (AMC) and Stony Brook University Hospital (SBUH) were selected to provide training to the HEPC regions during the time period of July 2014 - June 2017.  The RFP process occurred again in July 2017.  Awards were renewed for URMC, AMC and SBUH and SUNY Upstate was also selected to receive an award.  From July 2017 - June 2022, URMC, AMC, SBUH and Upstate served as the (4) Regional Training Centers (RTCs) tasked with identification, coordination, development, delivery, and/or evaluation of emergency preparedness training for members of the Healthcare Emergency Preparedness Coalitions.  RTCs are funded by the New York State Department of Health (DOH) through the national Hospital Preparedness Program (HPP) grant.

Health Emergency Preparedness Training Centers (HTC)

In 2022, NYSDOH OHEP released another competitive RFP to identify an organization in each NYSDOH Region that could partner with OHEP and the regional HEPCs to identify training gaps, develop priority program training, deliver training, provide training and resource support to exercises and evaluate the effectiveness of the training with the goal of furthering the preparedness and response needs of the healthcare system while supporting the goals of the program.  University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC), SUNY Upstate Medical University (Upstate), Albany Medical Center (AMC) and Northwell Health received the awards to serve as Health Emergency Preparedness Training Centers (HTC) for the HEPCs.   HTCs are funded by the New York State Department of Health (DOH) through the national Hospital Preparedness Program (HPP) grant.  The current award period runs from July 2022 - June 2027.
 
          *****NYS HTCs******
University of Rochester Medical Center: Western HEPC Region
SUNY Upstate Medical University: Central New York HEPC Region.
Albany Medical Center: Capital District HEPC Region
Northwell Health: Metropolitan Area HEPC Region (Long Island & Mid-Hudson)

This website is maintained by the URMC - Finger Lakes Regional Training Center to support the HEPCs.