Individual hospitals and healthcare systems in each of the 50 states were provided a portion of $352 million in HHS grants to improve their disaster planning and response capabilities.
The grants will fund planning and exercises for a variety of emergency responses, such as evacuating facilities, sheltering patients and staff in place, and managing mass fatalities. In addition, the funds will allow hospitals to stockpile caches of emergency pharmaceuticals. The grants are issued through the federal Hospital Preparedness Program, which was launched in 2002.
