Partnership for Disaster Health Response System

The Partnership for Disaster Health Response System aims to fund a single demonstration project designed to explore, refine, and validate the Remote Disaster Health Response System (RDHRS) framework. This initiative builds upon existing local medical surge infrastructure such as trauma systems and Health Care Coalitions by introducing enhanced coordination mechanisms and specialized clinical and administrative capabilities at the state and regional levels. The RDHRS is not meant to replace current patient referral networks but rather to activate as a supplementary system during catastrophic events when local capacities are overwhelmed, enabling the redistribution of patients, importation of external resources, or implementation of resource utilization guidelines. The project will focus on identifying operational challenges, establishing leading practices, and demonstrating the feasibility and effectiveness of this tiered response model under real-world disaster conditions. The initiative seeks to integrate deeper health care expertise into broader preparedness and emergency response structures, ensuring that clinical decision-making and resource allocation remain aligned with system-wide resilience goals during large-scale emergencies. This effort is led by the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response within the Department of Health and Human Services, with Virginia Simmons, Chief Grants Management Officer, serving as the primary point of contact. The project was forecasted on October 25, 2021, and is structured to advance national disaster health readiness without disrupting existing local care delivery paradigms, emphasizing scalability, coordination, and adaptive capacity across jurisdictions.