PHC: Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) Advisory Committee

Purpose

The purpose of Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) Advisory Committee is to provide policy, program, and resource allocation recommendations to the State of Wisconsin Public Health Emergency Preparedness Program to assure that Wisconsin is prepared to effectively and efficiently prevent, detect, and report, investigate, control, and recover from public health emergencies.

The charge to this committee is to make recommendations to the Public Health Council on priorities and strategies to achieve public health emergency preparedness goals in Wisconsin.

Establishing and maintaining a senior advisory committee is a programmatic requirement of the Public Health Emergency Preparedness cooperative agreement from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Functions

The Committee will advise public health officials in overseeing the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) cooperative agreement. The Committee’s work should include other applicable preparedness grants or funding sources that may become available in the future. This Committee should maintain awareness of the activities of Wisconsin’s Hospital Preparedness Program (HPP) advisory entity, the Healthcare Emergency Readiness Coalition (HERC) Advisory Group (AG). Opportunities for joint or coordinated activities between public health departments and the hospital community should receive special attention.

The Committee will discuss public health emergency preparedness issues, concerns, and proposals brought forth by the Department of Health Services (DHS), local health departments, tribal health centers, and individual Public Health Council and PHEP Advisory Committee members. Recommendations deliberated and developed by the PHEP Advisory Committee will be forwarded to the Public Health Council, who will finalize and forward to DHS leadership.

The Committee will ensure that the DHS Office of Preparedness and Emergency Health Care (OPEHC) can solicit input on public health emergency preparedness issues and concerns relevant to the disciplines and partner organizations represented by its membership, including on items that may not warrant a formal vote.

Committee membership

The Chair of the PHEP Advisory Committee will be appointed to a two-year term by the Chair of the Public Health Council.

The membership of the Committee will be broadly representative of public and private entities that have a significant role in preparedness for and response to bioterrorism and other public health emergencies.

The Chair of the PHEP Advisory Committee will recommend committee members, with input from Office of Preparedness and Emergency Health Care staff, to be discussed and voted upon by Public Health Council members. All members of the PHEP Advisory Committee will be appointed to a two-year term.

The role of the Chair of the PHEP Advisory Committee will be to:

• Develop and approve meeting agendas and assure that meetings are scheduled and announced to Advisory Committee members.
• Lead and facilitate discussions within Advisory Committee meetings.
• Assure that Advisory Committee meeting minutes are captured as per Public Health Council requirements.
• Assure that decisions made by the Advisory Committee are forwarded to the Chair of the Public Health Council for consideration.

CDC strongly encourages PHEP recipients to broaden advisory committee membership to include senior representatives from multiple disciplines and partner organizations, including but not limited to:

• State administrative agency (SAA)
• State office on aging
• Jurisdictional Hospital Preparedness Program (HPP) director, principal investigator, or coordinator (DHS)
• Jurisdictional PHEP director or principal investigator (DHS)
• Jurisdictional emergency management agency representative
• Jurisdictional emergency medical services representative
• Jurisdictional medical examiner
• Jurisdictional hospital representative
• Jurisdictional immunization representative
• Tribal representatives
• Jurisdictional Health Care Coalition (HCC) coordinator(s)
• Jurisdictional mental/behavioral health representative
• Local health department governing board representative, local jurisdictions and associations, or regional working groups
• Community-based partners representing at-risk populations serving individuals with disabilities and others with access and functional needs
• Citizen representation to obtain public input and comment on emergency preparedness planning

Meetings

2023

• April 11, 2023
• February 14, 2023