Mallika Filtz
801-716-4615
Community health centers in Utah provide essential primary and preventive health care to over 105,000 Utah residents. In their role as trusted community-based care providers, health centers can play an important role during emergencies and disasters by providing essential communications, assistance, and treatment to existing patients and other community members in need of assistance.
Although the defined roles of health centers are always evolving, some areas in which health centers have provided disaster services include:
- Outreach and communication to vulnerable populations;
- Triage and medical care for impacted populations;
- Assistance to other impacted health centers and populations;
- Serving as dispensing points (PODs) for emergency medication distribution;
- Providing space and resources to coordinated response efforts;
- Operating decontamination tents as needed; and
- Providing preparedness education to staff patients and the community.
Health centers have a natural fit in working with vulnerable populations, those individuals who also happen to be disproportionately affected by disasters.
Health centers have begun to define specific roles and responsibilities based on the needs of the community in which they operate.
Resources
- 340B Pharmacy Programs and Disasters
- Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Public Health Emergency Preparedness
- Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, Hospital Preparedness Program
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Emergency Preparedness
- Department of Health and Human Services and Disasters
- Health Center Emergency Management PIN 2007-15
- HRSA Emergency Preparedness
- Health Center FTCA in Emergencies PIN 2007-16
- Health Centers in Emergencies PAL 2002-02
- Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy
- National Association of Community Health Centers Emergency Management
- Rural Assistance Center Emergency Management
- Be Ready Utah
- Emergency Preparedness Materials in Other Languages
- Utah Bureau of Epidemiology
- Utah Department of Health Bio-terrorism and Emergency Preparedness
- Utah Department of Health Flu Fighters
- Utah Department of Homeland Security
- Utah Notification and Information System
- Utah Special Needs Registry
