Rural Emergency Hospitals​
Rural Emergency Hospital (REH) is a designation given to eligible rural hospitals by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) that began on January 1, 2023. Congress established the Rural Emergency Hospital (REH) designation in December 2020 in Section 125 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act 2021 (Public Law 116-260) and in response to the loss of essential healthcare services in rural areas due to hospital closures. According to the North Carolina Rural Health Research Program, 140 rural hospitals closed between January 2010 and September 30, 2022. In addition, a February 2020 Chartis Group report identified 453 financially vulnerable rural hospitals at risk of closing.
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The REH designation is designed to maintain access to critical outpatient hospital services in communities that may not be able to support or sustain a Critical Access Hospital or small rural hospital. REHs are required to provide 24-hour emergency and observation services and can elect to furnish other outpatient services. Facilities designated as an REH will receive enhanced Medicare payments for certain outpatient services and additional monthly payments. Learn more about REH on ruralhealthinfo.org.

Pediatric Hospital Office Hours
January 30, 2024
​Dr. Samantha Mishra will be presenting on Pediatric Readiness Across the Continuum. Please join us as she delves into the importance of Pediatric Readiness in both the pre-hospital and hospital emergency departments, available resources and the role of the Pediatric Champion (also known as Pediatric Emergency Care Coordinator (PECC)). See the attached flyer for more information.

Special Pathogens Response Survey
Due January 31, 2024
The National Emerging Special Pathogens Training and Education Center (NETEC) and the Regional Emerging Special Pathogens Treatment Centers (RESPTCs) are conducting a needs assessment survey related to special pathogen preparedness to gather insights from healthcare facilities, public health partners and EMS organizations.  
Participation and response to this survey will play a pivotal role in shaping the development of workplans and prioritizing future projects for NETEC and the RESPTCs related to special pathogen preparedness.

The insights gathered from this survey will be instrumental in:

• Identifying areas for improvement in current practices
• Informing the development of targeted training programs
• Enhancing coordination and communication among healthcare, public health, and EMS stakeholders

To contribute to this important initiative, please click on the survey link provided below. Responses will remain confidential, and the aggregated data will be used for analysis, program improvement and advancing the state of preparedness in the U.S.

The survey should take approximately 10-15 minutes to complete, if you are unable to complete the survey in one sitting, you can reenter and finish at a later time.

Please complete the survey by January 31, 2024.
If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact Amy Encinger at [email protected].
To complete the survey


Region V for Kid Pediatric Study
Region V for Kids is funding a study on Hospital Emergency Preparedness in Rural and Critical Access Hospitals. The Primary Investigator is Dr. Steven Krug from Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago. The study is looking for 2-3 hospitals in Michigan to participate. Corewell Health and Michigan Medicine have partnered to recruit rural hospital participation from within their own healthcare systems. There are no asks from the Coalitions.
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This is just for your information so if you receive any questions, you are aware of the study. If you have any questions, please contact Lauren Korte ([email protected]).
Region V for Kids Flyer


Preparedness Lunch and Learn
February 20, 2024
The Preparedness Lunch and Learn series continues with Pediatric Readiness on January 16, 2024, with a discussion on Hospital Mass Fatality Planning. Throughout the series topics will continue to build knowledge for emergency managers in hospitals and other healthcare facilities as well as healthcare coalitions, local health departments, tribes and others.

This series is the third Tuesday every month from 12 p.m. - 1 p.m. For registration, visit MI-TRAIN, course ID # 1112624 for the entire series. 

Preparedness Lunch and Learn Topics

American Medical Association (AMA): How Tribal Medical Education Programs Could Solve the Rural Health Care Crisis
In the latest episode of the AMA Update podcast, AMA takes a look at Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathic Medicine’s unique partnership with The Cherokee Nation. Natasha Bray, DO, dean of OSUCOM at the Cherokee Nation, joins to share how this innovative partnership came to life and the impact it’s expected to have in the local community. Dr. Bray details the unique clinical training students receive and why it’s important for physicians to truly understand the communities they serve. Listen to the full podcast episode from AMA.

Access and Functional Needs (AFN) Web-Based Training​
ASPR has developed the HHS/ ASPR Access and Functional Needs (AFN) Web-Based Training to help public health officials, emergency managers, and social/human service providers learn how to address Access and Functional Needs (AFN) in disaster preparedness, response, and recovery. This is great class to take yourself and to share with HCC partners.
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PDF fact sheet for more information
To take the course


Operation Shelter-in-Place: A HazMat Incident – Training & Exercise Program for Healthcare Facilities
​The Northeast Florida Healthcare Coalition (HCC) and Northeast Florida Local Emergency Planning Committee for Hazardous Materials (LEPC) partnered to create a training and exercise program intended to enhance the shelter-in-place capabilities of healthcare facilities in the event of a hazardous materials incident. The materials provided may be useful tools that you may use when creating similar education, training, and exercise items that meet the needs of our Michigan partners and facilities.
Operation Shelter-in-Place Training & Exercise Documents

Free Emergency Preparedness Training Available
The Advancing Resilience for Community Health in Emergency Response (ARCHER) program is a free series of resources and training on emergency preparedness topics designed for health center staff. 

Developed by Healthcare Ready and the Centene Charitable Foundation, ARCHER provides resources for those responsible for daily preparedness planning and individuals new to the field and interested in learning more. Training resources are provided to guide teams through: 

• Emergency response planning and preparation 
• Strengthening local partnerships for crisis response 
• Crisis communications 
• Supporting frontline staff through sustained disasters 
• Intro to cybersecurity preparedness 
• ARCHER is completely free and available today. Get started by exploring free resources.

Get started today by visiting or contacting the Healthcare Ready team to learn more at [email protected].

Free resources are available here!


Free On-Demand Webinars
Available free of charge until January 19, 2024
In celebration of Health Law Week, the American Health Law Association (AHLA) is providing two on-demand, previously recorded, webinars at no charge January 8-19, 2024:

• The Future is Now: AI in Health Care
• Value-Based Care: Options, Barriers, Opportunities, and the New Normal

Recording Available: Lessons Learned from the Signature Healthcare Brockton Hospital Fire
For anyone unable to attend the webinar, the recording and PowerPoint slides for Lessons Learned from the Signature Healthcare Brockton Hospital Fire held on December 14, 2023 are now available. The PowerPoint presentation is now available on ASPR TRACIE (link below). The title page of the PowerPoint presentation includes a link to the webinar recording. The recording can also be directly accessed by clicking the link below. It will ask you to enter your name and email address prior to accessing the recording. Note that the short video showing the start of the fire and very initial response cannot be viewed during the recording. Signature Healthcare will release the full video at a future date.

PowerPoint Slides
Recorded Presentation

Checklist of Essential Pediatric Domains for Hospitals
One of the most significant gaps in hospital readiness for children is the lack of hospital policies that address children under every day and disaster conditions. Is your community hospital in that situation and needs help including children in preparedness policies? This resource will help!
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The Checklist of Essential Pediatric Domains and Considerations for Every Hospital’s Disaster Preparedness Policies is a tool to help hospital administrators and leadership incorporate essential pediatric considerations into existing hospital disaster policies. Click to download (PDF) and view the following video that explains the checklist from colleagues at the American Academy of Pediatrics Disaster Council.
​Checklist of Essential Ped Domain Video



Wearable Tech Mitigates First Responder Exposure to Chemical Threats​
Every day, all types of emergency responders across the nation are dispatched to calls for situations ranging from industrial, agricultural, and commercial accidents to 5-alarm fires. In these moments, we rely on them to render aid swiftly and efficiently, even if it means risking their personal safety. This is why the Science and Technology Directorate (S&T), part of the Federal U.S. Department of Homeland Security, is leading a new effort to arm responders with state-of-the-art technology that alerts them to toxic industrial chemicals (TICs) that may be present in the field.
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An estimated 240 million calls are made to emergency services in the United States every year. “Our emergency responders need to have the most up-to-date technologies and tools that will enable them to safely answer these calls,” said S&T Program Manager Kimberli Jones-Holt. “We are collaborating with several partners to ensure that they have access to these resources, and also enhance existing technologies to provide more convenient and affordable safety capabilities.”
Read the Full Article

Join the AHA for the Facility Safety and Security in Health Care Virtual Convening!
December 7, 2023
AHA's Hospitals Against Violence (HAV) Initiative will be hosting a virtual convening on Thursday, December 7, 2023, from 12:30 pm to 1:45 pm ET and it will be open to both AHA members and non-members. Panelists will discuss health care facility safety and security, innovative violence prevention strategies, and a security in action case study. This virtual convening aims at exploring facility safety and security strategies, as well as the technologies that can help mitigate workforce and workplace violence. We invite you to join us as we discuss new and innovative approaches to prevent targeted violence, enhance physical and psychological safety, and foster collaboration with law enforcement

Reminder: COVID-19 Reporting Due into CAAMP
Due January 12, 2024
Data collection is currently under way for the third year of HPP Cooperative Agreement COVID-19 Supplemental Funding. Data collection is taking place in the Cooperative Agreement Accountability and Management Platform (CAAMP). Instructions for accessing CAAMP and completing the online performance measure forms were sent to recipients on Tuesday, October 31 from the HPP CAAMP Support email ([email protected]).   Note that recipients and sub-recipients are required to report regardless of whether they spent funding during the period of performance from July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023. Any questions can be directed to the HPP CAAMP Support email ([email protected]) with Capt. Duane Wagner, Field Project Officer (FPO) copied.


National Disaster Life Support Classes
February 12, 2024
The first statewide NDLS course of 2024, Basic Disaster Life Support (BDLS), will be offered virtually February 12, 2024, from 5:00-9:00 p.m. Registration will open 30-days prior to the course. Please share this information with HCC partners. The following BDLS course will be April 5, 2024, starting at 8:00 a.m. and running until 12:00 p.m.
For registration information or questions please contact Judy Wheeler ([email protected]).

Recording Available: MIREQUEST.org Training for Hospitals and HCCs
A training on the use of the mirequest.org website has been recorded and posted to MI-TRAIN.  As a reminder, the Division of Emergency Preparedness and Response (DEPR) provided this training to ensure everyone is prepared for the statewide SNS exercise on March 21, 2024.

To review the presentation, visit the MITRAIN website, and search for course ID # 1114908


American Hospital Association (AHA) Podcast: Better Behavioral Health Care Through Collaboration and Virtual Care
​In the U.S. health care system, the demand for behavioral health care has long outpaced availability, with many patients forced to turn to their primary care providers for help. To find a solution, Henry Ford Health System decided to get creative with a new collaborative care program that for the first time integrated primary care with behavioral health. In the latest episode of the AHA's Advancing Health podcast, four clinicians from Henry Ford discuss the beginnings of the program and how collaboration and technology have made it easier to see patients than ever before.  Listen to the full podcast episode from the AHA



Leading Health Care Partners Announce the "Common Health Coalition"
The American Hospital Association, America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), the Alliance of Community Health Plans, the American Medical Association, and Kaiser Permanente announced the Common Health Coalition: Together for Public Health. The Common Health Coalition is focused on translating the hard-won lessons and successes of the COVID-19 pandemic response into actionable strategies that will strengthen the partnership between our health care and public health systems. The Coalition is the product of a joint commitment to public health made in March 2023 by the five founding member organizations.  Read the full press release about the Common Health Coalition.

American Hospital Association (AHA) Podcast: Rural Emergency Hospitals as a New Model of Care
In the latest episode of the AHA's Advancing Health podcast, Laura Appel, executive vice president of the Michigan Health and Hospital Association (MHA), and Christina Campos, CEO at Guadalupe County Hospital, New Mexico, discuss what’s involved in converting to and meeting the eligibility requirements of a Rural Emergency Hospital, and what patients stand to gain from it. Listen to the full podcast episode from the AHA.
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Now Available Online - Skilled Nursing Facility Antibiotic Stewardship | Establish an Antibiotic Stewardship Committee Webinar
​The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) Surveillance for Healthcare-Associated and Resistant Pathogens (SHARP) and Infection Prevention Units are excited to announce that the second webinar from the Skilled Nursing Facility Antibiotic Stewardship webinar series is now available online. If you were unable to join the live presentation, don't worry! You can now access the presentation slides and watch the webinar recording by visiting Michigan.gov/HAI. 

October 31st, 2023 
Dr. Eryn Hart will be presenting, and this session will address a review of OB emergencies. This will include the hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, review the importance of recognizing peripartum cardiomyopathy and discuss the H’s and T’s most likely to cause maternal arrest. This will involve both a didactic component and filmed simulation.  

EMS credits are available for this session. 
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Course number: 23-ICE-08365  
Registration closes at 2:00 pm on 10/31  
Connect to the October 31 session on Teams, Here 
Hospital ED Pediatric Champions Office Hours Flyer