Incorporating Community Health Needs into Emergency Planning

The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) is one of the world’s oldest and largest public health agencies. The mission of the DOHMH Office of Emergency Preparedness and Response (OEPR) is to increase the preparedness of healthcare systems for public health emergencies in New York City. OEPR engaged a Capstone team to better incorporate community health needs into hazard vulnerability assessments (HVA). The team consulted with two types of healthcare coalitions, the Mount Sinai Network Coalition and the Staten Island Borough Coalition, to inform and develop a methodology for this process. The team performed a gap analysis by conducting an extensive literature review, qualitative interviews with emergency planning experts, and data analysis. The final report outlined recommendations for streamlining the HVA process in order to better integrate community needs assessments in emergency planning, preparedness, response, and recovery efforts.