This month, NACCHO’s Project Public Health Ready (PPHR) program recognized or re-recognized 24 local and regional health agencies for their ability to plan for, respond to and recover from public health emergencies.
Nine agencies from Florida, Kentucky, Michigan, Utah, Virginia, Texas and North Carolina earned PPHR recognition for the first time, and 15 agencies from Colorado, Florida, Louisiana and Pennsylvania achieved PPHR re-recognition status.
PPHR recognition reflects an agency’s dedication to successfully complete the application process and its commitment to high national standards of public health preparedness. NACCHO extends its congratulations to the following 24 agencies for their exceptional accomplishment:
- San Juan Basin Public Health, CO
- El Paso County Public Health, CO
- Florida Department of Health in Highlands County, FL
- Florida Department of Health in Nassau County, FL
- Florida Department of Health in Hendry and Glades Counties, FL
- Florida Department of Health in Baker County, FL
- Florida Department of Health in Clay County, FL
- Florida Department of Health in Flagler County, FL
- Florida Department of Health in Pasco County, FL
- Florida Department of Health in Putnam County, FL
- Florida Department of Health in Hillsborough County, FL
- Barren River District Health Department, KY
- Louisiana Department of Health – Region 1 Office of Public Health, LA
- Louisiana Department of Health – Region 6 Office of Public Health, LA
- Ottawa County Department of Public Health, MI
- Cabarrus Health Alliance, NC
- Allegheny County Health Department, PA
- Bucks County Department of Health, PA
- Wilkes-Barre City Health Department, PA
- Hidalgo County Health and Human Services Department, TX
- Davis County Health Department, UT
- Salt Lake County Health Department, UT
- Tooele County Health Department, UT
- Central Virginia Health District, VA
PPHR is a competency-based training and recognition program that assesses preparedness and assists local health departments, or groups of local health departments working collaboratively as a region, to respond to emergencies. It builds preparedness capacity and capability through a continuous quality improvement model. The PPHR criteria are national standards for local public health preparedness and are updated annually to incorporate the most recent federal initiatives. Each of the three PPHR project goals—all-hazards preparedness planning, workforce capacity development, and demonstration of readiness through exercises or real events—has a comprehensive list of standards that must be met in order to achieve PPHR recognition.