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Welcome!
The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (WVDHHR)
is the state agency charged with overseeing the health response to disasters
occurring within the borders of West Virginia. Response is undertaken
collaboratively with many partners—local health departments, hospitals and
other health care facilities, physicians and other health care providers, EMS
agencies, Emergency Management agencies, WV Poison Center, etc
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Within WVDHHR,
the WV Bureau for Public Health, The Center for
Threat Preparedness facilitates advance
planning and preparation for health
disasters. The Center works to
coordinate, support and oversee the effort; much of the work
itself is undertaken by hundreds of individuals, organizations, and
agencies located throughout the state.
The Center began in 2002 and is
supported primarily through federal funding.
West Virginia’s Local
Health Departments Conducting Health Risk Assessment
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) allocates funding for preparedness activities
to state and local public health departments through
the Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP)
grant. The primary purpose of this grant is to
strengthen local health departments’ ability to
respond to all types of public health emergencies
and to build more resilient communities. Federal and
state grants for public health and other local
partners are increasingly focused on the “whole of
community” approach to preparedness, on
coalition-building and on building community
resiliency through partnership at the local level.
To
meet a requirement for the PHEP grant, local health
departments around the state will be conducting
Health Risk Assessment meetings, using a tool
developed by local and state partners. Participants
will identify hazards and examine how hazards will
impact health systems and the overall health of the
community. This process will assist with future
grant requirements such as developing and
maintaining local preparedness coalitions and
aligning plans and exercises.
The assessments are set to be completed by
the end of June. For more information, contact
the Center for Threat Preparedness at 304-558-6900.
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