The Virginia Healthcare Emergency Management Program is funded through the Hospital Preparedness Program (HPP) grant under the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) within the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS).

Since 2002 the ASPR grant has been awarded to the Virginia Department of Health (VDH). Through a partnership between VDH and the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association (VHHA) the Virginia Healthcare Emergency Management Program was created and Virginia hospitals and healthcare systems have enhanced their capabilities to respond and recover from a wide range of public health and healthcare emergencies.

VDH and VHHA work with hospitals and healthcare facilities through a regional structure that consists of six healthcare coalitions (HCCs). Virginia’s HCCs represent groups of health care and response organizations who play a critical role in developing the health care delivery systems preparedness and response activities. HCC members actively participate in HCC strategic planning, operational planning, information sharing, and resource coordination and management. Virginia’s HCCs coordinate regional training and exercise opportunities and support the ESF-8 during a response.

Each HCC has a Regional Healthcare Coordinating Center (RHCC) designed to act as a hub in the event of a public health or healthcare emergency. RHCCs serve as the liaison between regions and the VDH Emergency Coordination Center. Each coalition defines the level of information exchange and scope of medical coordination authority granted to the RHCC. Some functions and responsibilities of the RHCC are:

• Facilitate uniform situational awareness during response
• Provide central coordination of regional response activities and sharing of healthcare resources
• Disseminate information within the region at the request of VDH and VHHA
• Coordinate diversion status/patient distribution within the region
• Request needed assets from other regions, the state and federal governments.

Healthcare emergency planning is a continual process. The focus is on improving the health care system’s capacity to respond to a wide range of hazards such as infectious diseases, natural, and man-made disasters.

Healthcare Coalition Contact Information

Healthcare providers looking for Healthcare Coalition contact information should identify their respective region and contact information based on the map and table below.