Washington, DC, March 20, 2024 - The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), the voice of the country’s over 3,300 local health departments, will hold the 2024 Preparedness Summit from March 25-28, 2024 in Cleveland, Ohio. Over 2,800 public health experts, healthcare leaders, and emergency management specialists are expected to attend, in-person and virtually, to learn best practices in preparing for and responding to public health emergencies. Session speakers will include leaders and officials from the federal, state, and local levels. The Preparedness Summit is the first and longest running national conference on public health preparedness.

Over the last decade, the nature of threats to national health security have changed significantly and continue to evolve. As the country faces widespread infectious diseases, the opioid crisis, active shooter emergencies, cybersecurity threats, and other public health crises, the Summit will examine systems and processes to enhance future public health preparedness response and recovery. This year’s theme is “Public Health, Healthcare, and Emergency Management: Aligning to Address Cascading Challenges” and will provide an opportunity for sectors to align missions, discuss collaboration challenges, and discover better opportunities to build stronger partnerships.

This year’s plenary sessions include:

• Monday, March 25: A Case Study in Collaboration: Public Health, Healthcare, and Emergency Management Responding to the East Palestine Train Derailment
• Tuesday, March 26: Let’s Talk About ICS: Integrating Public Health, Healthcare, and Emergency Management Response Frameworks
• Thursday, March 28: Testing the Limitless Possibilities of Artificial Intelligence in Emergency Preparedness and Response: How to Be Smart About It

The general sessions will cover discussions on refugee, immigrant and migrant communities; food systems security; the mpox outbreak; health equity; radiation emergency preparedness; climate change; community resilience; COVID-19; medical countermeasures; Medical Reserve Corps; emergency operations; emergency planning; healthcare; mental health; vaccination; and surveillance.

The Summit will have over 600 guest speakers including:

• Steven Adams, MPH – Deputy Assistant Secretary and Director, Strategic National Stockpile, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
• Michael Ayres – Senior Advisor to the Deputy Assistant Secretary and Director, Strategic National Stockpile, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
• Andrea Benin, MD - Chief, Surveillance Branch, Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, National Center for Emerging Zoonotic and Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Nicole Fehrenbach, MPP – Branch Chief, Rapid Response Research and Surveillance Branch, Division of Infectious Disease Readiness and Innovation, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Major General (Ret.) Paul Friedrichs - Deputy Assistant to the President, Director, White House Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy, The White House
• Jonathan Greene - Deputy Assistant Secretary, Director of the Office of Response, Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
• Krystal Jackson - AI Capabilities Analyst, Infrastructure Security Division, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency
• Christine Kosmos, RN, BSN, MS - Director of the Division of State and Local Readiness, Office of Readiness and Response, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Capt. Jill Shugart – Associate Director for Emergency Management, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Henry Walke, MD, MPH - Director of the Office of Readiness and Response, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Find the full schedule of events here.

To learn more about the Preparedness Summit, please visit.

###

About the Preparedness Summit
The Preparedness Summit is the first and longest-running national conference on public health preparedness. Since its beginning in 2007, the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) has taken a leadership role in convening a wide array of partners to participate in the Summit; presenting new research findings, sharing tools and resources, and providing a variety of opportunities for attendees to learn how to implement model practices that enhance the nation’s capabilities to prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters and other emergencies.

About NACCHO
The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) represents the nation’s over 3,300 local governmental health departments. These city, county, metropolitan, district, and tribal departments work every day to protect and promote health and well-being for all people in their communities. For more information about NACCHO, please visit www.naccho.org.