Washington, DC, April 21, 2023—The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), the voice of the country’s nearly 3,000 local health departments, will hold the 2023 Preparedness Summit from April 24-27, 2023 in Atlanta, GA. More than 2,700 public health experts, healthcare leaders, and emergency management specialists are expected to attend in-person and virtually. This event is the first and longest running national conference on public health preparedness.

As the nation continues to recover from the prolonged pandemic response and begins to define the endemic phase of COVID-19, natural disasters, emerging infectious diseases, terrorist threats, climate issues, and maintenance of all-hazards plans are now being reexamined. The theme for the 2023 Preparedness Summit, Recover. Renew: Reprioritizing All-Hazards Preparedness, will provide an opportunity to revisit these pressing issues and share resources, shape policies, and build skills to mitigate a variety of threats.

Session topics will include preparedness capacity building, climate change, community resilience, COVID-19, health equity, medical countermeasures, Medical Reserve Corps, One Health, radiation, risk communications, and vaccination. Also, strengthening the public health workforce will be examined. In addition, the Summit speaker lineup includes heavy hitters, such as:

• Daniel Aldrich, PhD, Professor of Political Science, Public Policy and Urban Affairs, Northeastern University
• John Auerbach, Senior Vice President, Federal Health, ICF
• John Balbus, MD, MPH, Interim Director, Office of Climate Change and Health Equity Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
• Dr. Colin Basler, DVM, MPH, Deputy Director, CDC One Health Office, CDC One Health Liaison to WOAH
• Dr. Meenakshi G. Brewster, Health Officer, St. Mary’s County, Maryland
• Neil Brockway, Director, Disaster Risk Reduction, American Red Cross
• Dr. Mary-Margaret Fill, MD, MPH, Deputy State Epidemiologist, Communicable and Environmental Diseases and Emergency Preparedness, State of Tennessee
• Abigail Goodwin, MA, MPH, Executive Vice President, Palm Health Foundation
• Natalie Grant, MPH, Director, Office of Human Services Emergency Preparedness and Response, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
• Addison Houston, MCRP, AICP, Climate Adaptation Strategist/Environmental Health Emergency Response Coordinator, Healthy Community Planning and Partnerships, Climate and Health Equity Initiative, Public Health – Seattle and King County
• Jen Kates, PhD, Senior Vice President and Director, Global Health and HIV Policy, KFF
• Erin McDonald, PhD, MPP, Lead, Equitable Long-Term Recovery and Resilience Plan, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
• Andrew Pickett, Director, Bureau of Emergency Preparedness and Response, Pennsylvania Department of Health
• Dr. Umair A. Shah, MD, MPH, Secretary of Health, Washington
• Jason Wilken, PhD, MPH, Career Epidemiology Field Officer assigned to the California Department of Public Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Dr. Herbert Wolfe, MHS-PA, Acting Chief Medical Officer, Office of Health Security, U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Find the full schedule of events here.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, about 1,800 diverse preparedness professionals attended the Preparedness Summit. In comparison, a record number 2,700 will attend this year’s Summit. To learn more about the Preparedness Summit, please click here.

Limited complimentary registrations are available for the media. Please see the associated media advisory for more information.

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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 nearly 3,000 local 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.