Primary Care Shines as New York City Responds to Hurricane Irene

Emergency Preparedness - New York, NY

In its first major activation since the H1N1 pandemic of 2009, the Primary Care Emergency Preparedness Network (PCEPN) again stepped forward during Hurricane Irene to bridge the gap between local emergency decision makers and the primary care community of New York City.  By maintaining a two-way communication link between NYC Office of Emergency Management (NYC OEM) and the primary care sector, PCEPN provided health centers with the information needed to make informed decisions throughout the NYC response to Irene.

Working around the clock throughout the duration of the storm, PCEPN representatives kept contact with the NYC Office of Emergency Management (NYC OEM) by maintaining a presence at NYC Emergency Operations Center. Information gained from OEM allowed PCEPN to hold regular conference calls for health centers to transmit timely updates and gain a "boots on the ground" perspective regarding the primary care community's status that could be relayed back to OEM. PCEPN also assisted with the evacuation and repatriation of non-primary care centers out of harm's way without incident or impact on individual patients.

Though Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene has come and gone PCEPN continues to work on recovery issues such as participating in NYC's Irene "hotwash" and seeking out funding opportunities to reimburse health centers for Irene related expenditures. 

PCEPN is co-led by the Community Health Care Association of New York State (CHCANYS) and PCDC, and was created in close partnership with and support from NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and NYC Office of Emergency Management.  PCEPN was formed to better coordinate planning, training, and response services provided to the primary care community and to ensure they are optimally positioned to prepare for and respond to community and citywide needs in the event of a disaster or emergency on a local and regional level.