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Center for Disaster Resilient Communities

Completed initiatives

Key initiatives completed by the Center for Disaster Resilient Communities include the following:

Project leadership team (left to right): Nicole Errett (director), Resham Patel (deputy director), Betty Bekemeier (outreach and engagement task lead), Melino Gianotti (tribal task co-lead), Tania Busch Isaksen (tribal task co-lead), John Y. Choe (data task lead).

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention contracted with the University of Washington Center for Disaster Resilient Communities in September 2023 to lead the development of a work plan for a regional public health emergency preparedness and response center that will help prepare the Northwest for disasters and emergencies.

The UW convened partners across Washington, Alaska, Idaho and Oregon to:

  1. Develop a work plan for a Region 10 (i.e., Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington) Center for Public Health Preparedness and Response to improve the uptake of evidence-informed and evidence-based strategies and interventions in public health emergency preparedness and response (PHEPR) practice among state, tribal, local and territorial public health agencies and their partners.
  2. Create a distinct work plan to improve PHEPR evidence-informed and evidence-based strategies and interventions uptake aligned with Region 10 tribal communities’ priorities, especially important and regionally relevant as Region 10 has the greatest number of federally recognized tribes (271) of all Health and Human Services (HHS) regions.
  3. Establish plans and processes to develop a regional data ecosystem model that supports PHEPR evidence-informed and evidence-based strategies and interventions development and implementation.

Across the three key activities, approximately 60 partners from the region with PHEPR expertise were selected to participate in two coordinating bodies and a community of practice to lead the identification of focus areas and priorities for a future regional PHEPR center.

Key priorities were identified through iterative discussions and meetings. These priorities included improving communication, enhancing workforce capacity and leadership and addressing future hazards. The emphasis was on culturally and community-tailored approaches to ensure equitable access to emergency preparedness strategies. Two work plans were developed and submitted to the CDC in September 2024.

Learn more about this work by visiting the UW News website.