HSA underwent reviews conducted by Project Public Health Ready, a unique partnership program between NACCHO and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“We are proud to have been recognized by Project Public Health Ready for our high level of preparedness,” said Dr. John Walker, Stanislaus County Public Health Officer. “We will continue to improve our ability to quickly and effectively respond to any public health crisis in Stanislaus County.”

To gain recognition, Project Public Health Ready required HSA to achieve goals in three key areas: preparedness planning; individual worker competence; and demonstration of all-hazards readiness through exercises. The recognition confirms that HSA has an emergency response plan in place, the plan is appropriately connected to other jurisdictional emergency response plans, agency staff members are trained, and the plan is exercised and used during public health and other community emergencies.

Local Health Departments recognized this year are:

Individual Departments

• Kern County Department of Public Health — Bakersfield, CA
• Orange County Health Department — Orlando, FL
• Palm Beach County Health Department — West Palm Beach, FL
• DeKalb County Board of Health — Decatur, GA
• Prince George’s County Health Department — Upper Marlboro, MD
• Independence City Health Department — Independence, MO
• Houston Department of Health & Human Services — Houston, TX
• Hennepin County Human Services Department — Minneapolis, MN

Regional Partnerships

• East Central Health District – District 6 — Augusta, GA
• Northern Illinois Public Health Consortium — Waukegan, IL
• Western New York Public Health Alliance, INC. — Buffalo, NY

“NACCHO commends HSA for being a model of public health emergency preparedness,” said Patrick Libbey, executive director of NACCHO. “The public health system still has work to do when it comes to preparedness, but we are making great strides thanks to the good work of Stanislaus County.”

Local health departments recognized underwent an evaluation process that included reviews by three members of the Project Public Health Ready Review Council. The Council consists of local health officials and organizational liaisons from the Association of Schools of Public Health, Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, National Association of Local Boards of Health, National Environmental Health Association, the National Public Health Leadership Development Network and the Public Health Foundation.

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For more information on all Project Public Health Ready sites and project tools and resources, go to http://www.naccho.org/topics/emergency/pphr.cfm.