February 2, 2004

The state of Michigan has received more than $16.7 million dollars in federal funding to improve health care system capacity in the event of a public health emergency or a terrorism attack.

The original $16.1 million grant, initially announced in August by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), was supplemented on December 30 with an additional $600,000 in new emergency preparedness funding for hospitals and emergency management systems (EMS) within the city of Detroit.

“These dollars will help ensure that Michigan’s health care service net can provide a significant and timely response for our citizens in case of a public health emergency,” said Janet Olszewski, Director of the Michigan Department of Community Health. “Additionally, the added monies for the city of Detroit will help to protect our state’s largest urban center during a crisis level event.”

The award also represents a significant increase in funding for this initiative from the previous year’s funding of $4.1 million. Grant dollars will be used to develop and implement regionally-based plans to improve the capacity of hospitals, emergency departments, outpatient facilities, EMS systems, and poison control centers.

The plans, when completed, will be implemented in response to incidents that would require isolation, decontamination, diagnosis, and medical treatment in the aftermath of terrorism or other public health emergencies.

The $600,000 in supplemental funding can be used regionally to assist Detroit hospitals to increase surge capacity for adult and pediatric patients, isolation for infectious diseases, bed capacity, response personnel available in emergencies, personal protective equipment, decontamination systems, education and training, and EMS exercises designed to improve response capabilities.