The National Network of Public Health Preparedness and Response Centers
The CDC’s 10 Regional Public Health Preparedness and Response (PHPR) Centers form the National Network of PHPR Centers, advancing a stronger, more coordinated public health emergency system that turns evidence into action for preparedness, response, and recovery. The Network identifies promising practices, evaluates what works, and helps scale proven approaches based on the needs of communities and practitioners. In each region, Centers convened coordinating bodies made up of practitioners and local partners who chose priorities for improving:
Workforce Development System Readiness
Building organizations and systems across public health that are prepared to help us when disaster strikes is critical to public health emergency preparedness and response. The University of Utah, designed an Incident Command System (ICS) training specifically for public health departments strengthening health department ability to engaged in emergency response as an organization. The University of California, San Francisco supported development of surge capacity and response effectiveness to using a multi-component strategy including specialized training, operational planning, and implementation of a table top exercise in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, possibly the hardest to reach area of the country.
Workforce Development Crisis Leadership
Helping health departments and partners make clear, evidence-based decisions in future emergencies is a goal of all regional centers. The University of Washington is helping to improve decision-making across the Northwest through implementation of a crisis leadership institute and mentorship program for regional public health leaders, while Tulane University in partnership with the University of Oklahoma and Texas A&M University, combined an educational course, scenario-based tabletop exercises, and quick-reference tools to strengthen leadership and decision-making across STLT health departments in HHS Region 6.
Communication
Making sure that public health systems can be first, right and credible with information related to events that can have a public health impact is the goal of all crisis emergency response communications. Johns Hopkins University created the Practical Playbook for Addressing Health Rumors and has been leading health departments in HHS Region 3 and 9 (along with the University of California San Francisco) in creating effective strategic plans for mitigating the harmful effects of public health rumors. The University of North Carolina has launched an action collaborative to incorporate this playbook and resulting strategic plans into public health department plans. The University of Minnesota is working directly with K-12 schools to improve how educational institutions counter rumors about infectious disease emergencies and provide quality information to students and families.
Partnerships and Collaborations
Connecting health officials with partners creates better “whole of community” response. The University of Nebraska has implemented and is evaluating the Community Disaster Response Network (CDRN), a connected network that links rural aging services, emergency management, and public health to improve disaster preparedness among older adults. Harvard University is advancing responsible, human-governed AI-informed approaches to strengthen the effectiveness and efficiency of emergency risk communication, including message quality, channel selection, and conversational tools.
Rural and Tribal Preparedness
The most isolated areas need innovative approaches to improving public health disaster outcomes. The University of Utah is conducting training and PHEP capability mapping with tribal communities to assess and improve their preparedness capabilities. Rutgers University, in collaboration with Columbia University, is building networks of volunteer community groups connected to governmental partners in isolated areas to support surge capacity.
Network At-A-Glance
10
Regional Centers
30+
Interventions Identified
4
Centers with Rural or Tribal Population Focus
500+
Community Partners Engaged
Network Members
HHS Region 1 – Harvard University, MA:
CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT
HHS Region 2 – Columbia University, NY:
NJ, NY, PR, VI
Population Focus: Rural
HHS Region 3 – Johns Hopkins University, MD:
DE, DC, MD, PA, VA, WV
HHS Region 4 – The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC:
AL, FL, GA, KY, MS, NC, SC, TN
HHS Region 5 – University of Minnesota, MN:
IL, IN, MI, MN, OH, WI
HHS Region 6 – Tulane University, LA:
AR, LA, NM, OK, TX
HHS Region 7 – University of Nebraska Medical Center, NE:
IA, KS, MO, NB
HHS Region 8 – University of Utah, UT:
CO, MT, ND, SD, UT, WY
Population Focus: Tribal
HHS Region 9 – University of California San Francisco, CA:
AZ, CA, HI, NV, Pacific Territories: American Samoa, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, Republic of Palau, Republic of the Marshall Islands
Population Focus: Rural/Pacific Island Territories
HHS Region 10 – University of Washington, WA:
AK, ID, OR, WA
Population Focus: Tribal
Coordination and Technical Assistance Partner (CTAP) for the Regional Centers for Public Health Preparedness and Response
NYC Preparedness & Recovery Institute
Over the five year project period, the NYC Preparedness & Recovery Institute (PRI), as the CDC’s Coordination and Technical Assistance Partner (CTAP) for the Regional Centers for Public Health Preparedness and Response, will create a learning network for public health preparedness and response, establish Communities of Practice (CoPs) to improve the national implementation of Evidence-Based Strategies & Interventions (EBSIs), and continuously enhance a national inventory of EBSIs.
EvidenceLink (In Beta)
EvidenceLink is a resource made for researchers and practitioners working in public health emergency preparedness and response (PHPR). You can find articles about interventions that have been tested, learn what worked, and consider how to adapt the intervention to work in your own context. EvidenceLink includes articles from major citation databases that meet eligibility criteria to select peer-reviewed articles on studies that test or evaluate a strategy, intervention, program or policy in the PHPR field. Articles are categorized into intervention areas according to a rubric designed to comprehensively cover the PHPR field.
