Building Resilience: Enhancing Emergency Management Programs at California Community Health Centers
Community health centers (CHCs) play a critical role within the healthcare delivery system and serve as frontline leaders and trusted messengers in their communities. CHCs ensure equitable access to vital healthcare services, especially in times of disasters or public health emergencies. CPCA remains committed to advocating for CHCs and ensuring they have the necessary resources, education, and support for effective emergency preparedness and response.
A Landscape Analysis of Emergency Management Programs in California CHCs
As communities face increasingly frequent and severe emergencies and disasters, it's crucial for CHCs to maintain continuity of operations and essential services during these events. CPCA, in partnership with Westward Disaster Consultancy, LLC, conducted a comprehensive landscape analysis of CHC emergency management programs to evaluate the status of emergency preparedness planning and to learn about the challenges, best practices, and opportunities to fulfill training requirements.
Findings from the landscape analysis report indicate:
Very few dedicated emergency management personnel are consistent in their understanding of their role.
Despite meeting necessary emergency preparedness requirements, CHCs report their programs are not consistent, difficult to maintain, struggle with turnover, and lack the expertise needed to create a robust program.
Most CHCs lack a funding source focused on emergency preparedness and rely on shrinking discretionary funds.
CHCs recognize climate change impacts but struggle with feasible mitigation actions given their limited funding and staff constraints.
The report's findings and recommendations will inform development of educational resources, as well as policy and advocacy efforts aimed at improving emergency management programs and addressing the evolving impacts of climate change on CHCs.
CPCA is already leveraging the report's insights to inform the development of an Emergency Management cohort program. This initiative aims to enhance emergency management capabilities and knowledge within CHCs, equipping individuals and positions responsible for emergency management. Development of this new program is also guided by an advisory committee comprised of members from the Emergency Management Peer Network with an anticipated pilot cohort to launch in Fall 2024.
The full report will be published in June of 2024. Visit the Emergency Preparedness webpage to access this and other helpful resources
CPCA’s Annual Emergency Preparedness Symposium
On April 8-9, 2024, CPCA held its annual Emergency Preparedness Symposium in Sacramento. Francisco J. Silva, CPCA’s President and CEO, kicked off the event by recognizing the importance of building and cultivating local, state, and federal partnerships in our response and management of emergencies. He highlighted the overarching challenges facing CHCs, provided an overview of CPCA’s strategic priorities to address those challenges, and highlighted some of the specific initiatives CPCA is pursuing. Attendees also had an opportunity to hear the latest updates impacting emergency preparedness from the Administration for Strategic Preparedness & Response and the California Department of Public Health.
Sessions focused on operationalizing emergency management standards to build resiliency, successful strategies employed by CHCs to assess and mitigate risks during crises, and how effective disaster communications can support CHCs. Day two featured an engaging and interactive session on building behavioral health into emergency response plans. Attendees left with valuable insights and enhanced emergency management strategies gained through engaging with their peers.
CPCA would like to thank attendees, speakers, and our funders for making the event a success, and look forward to seeing everyone again next year.