The University of Washington’s new Center for Disaster Resilient Communities (CDRC) will lead the development of a new workplan for a regional public health emergency preparedness and response center to help prepare the Northwest for disasters and emergencies.
Under a $1.8 million contract with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the CDRC will convene partners across Washington, Alaska, Idaho and Oregon to develop a workplan to establish a future regional Center for Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response.
The CDRC launched in September and is led by Nicole Errett, assistant professor in the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences. It brings together the UW’s expertise in disaster science to help build resilient communities.
Supporting tribes, communities and government partners
The UW will also support development of a tribal-specific workplan that addresses the public health emergency preparedness and response needs and priorities of tribal partners across the region.
And it will develop a model for a regional data ecosystem that can support the uptake of evidence-based strategies in public health emergency preparedness and response.
“This funding will support a partner-driven process to shape a future center for evidence-informed public health emergency preparedness and response that serves the needs of community and government partners,” Errett said.
“We are really excited to bring together community, tribal, health care, public health practice, emergency management and other partners to identify focus areas for the center and approaches the center can take to support their work,” she said.
There will be a separate competitive funding opportunity to develop the Center for Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response itself, which will become part of a nationwide network of such centers.
