Jun 7, 2002 (CIDRAP News) The distribution of $747 million in federal grants to states for bioterrorism preparedness was announced yesterday by Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson.
The funds are being distributed following an HHS review of public health preparedness plans developed by the states, territories, and three major cities (New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago), Thompson said.
"This is the first time that federal, state and local governments have come together on a unified plan to strengthen our public health system and better prepare to respond to a terrorism attack," Thompson stated in a news release. "These plans will usher in a new era of cooperation between all levels of government when it comes to protecting the public's health."
The money is provided under a $2.9 billion biodefense appropriations bill that President Bush signed in January. The bill included more than $1 billion for states and cities. HHS released 20% of that amount ($205 million) at the end of January and withheld the rest pending receipt and review of preparedness plans from the states.
Thompson said HHS now has fully approved the preparedness plans submitted by 24 states and by Chicago and New York City. Another 24 states and Los Angeles had their plans mostly approved, but a small portion of their funds were withheld pending further review or refinement of part of each plan, the HHS announced. The department said Montana, Utah, Washington, DC, and the eight US territories have not completed their plans and were granted extensions to do so. HHS is withholding their grants for now, but it listed the amounts.
Each state or city is receiving one grant for public health systems and a separate, smaller amount for hospital preparedness efforts. Among states and cities with fully approved plans, California is getting the largest amount, $70.8 million, and Pennsylvania is second at $37.3 million. New York City is to receive $26.2 million. Among states and cities that have had their plans partially approved, Texas leads the list with $59.7 million to be delivered now and $6.7 million to be granted after full approval. Florida has the second largest share in that group: $47.0 million to be delivered now and $5.2 million to come later.
Thompson praised governors, state public health departments, and city leaders for developing their plans in a short time. "The states overall did a strong job of meeting the established benchmarks, which is reflected by the fact that states received all or most of their funds," the announcement said.
HHS officials said states and cities are to use their grants to further develop bioterrorism preparedness plans, improve infectious disease surveillance and investigation, enhance hospitals' readiness to deal with large numbers of casualties, expand public health laboratory and communications capacities, and improve disease-reporting communication networks connecting hospitals and public health departments.
HHS released a list of 17 "critical benchmarks" that it used in evaluating the state preparedness plans. For example, states are expected to designate an executive director of their bioterrorism preparedness and response program, set a timeline for developing the preparedness plan, set a time line for developing a system to receive and evaluate urgent disease reports 24 hours a day, plan to provide at least one epidemiologist for each metropolitan area of 500,000 people or more, designate a coordinator for hospital preparedness planning, and devise a plan for hospitals' response to a potential epidemic.
Two HHS agencies are administering the preparedness funds, officials said. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is providing $918 million to support statewide preparedness for bioterrorism and public health emergencies, while the Health Resources and Services Administration is providing $125 million to help states establish regional hospital plans for responding to bioterrorism.
See also:
HHS news release
http://archive.hhs.gov/news/press/2002pres/20020606c.html
State-by-state listing of preparedness grants
http://archive.hhs.gov/news/press/2002pres/20020606b.html
List of "critical benchmarks" used in evaluating state preparedness plans
http://archive.hhs.gov/news/press/2002pres/20020606a.html
