The Florida Department of Health in Pasco County has been awarded a $25,000 grant to enhance preparedness and response to infectious disease 

New Port Richey - The Florida Department of Health in Pasco County (DOH-Pasco) has been awarded $25,000 to enhance coordination for preparedness and response to infectious disease outbreaks.  The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) has funded projects in eleven health departments across the nation.  With support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Lessons in Infection Control (LINC) Initiative grant recipients will test new approaches to prepare for and respond to Ebola, healthcare-associated infections, and other emerging infectious diseases.

“This funding will support our work locally to improve healthcare and community infection control practices by working with hospitals, long-term care facilities, and other healthcare settings” Said Mike Napier, County Health Officer. “It allows us to build capacity through training of staff and local partners and will facilitate addressing gaps and opportunities identified during our local response to the Ebola threat.”  

On June 16^th DOH-Pasco will host the training and exercise, Strengthening Ties: Connecting Community Partners and Public Health for Emergency Response.  The training will be held from 8:00 am until 5:00 pm at the Spartan Manor located at 6121 Massachusetts Ave in New Port Richey and will cover topics related to emerging infectious diseases, hospital acquired infections and emergency communication systems.  The training and materials are free to registered participants.  Continuing education credits for physicians, nurses, and health education specialists have been applied for. Seating is limited for the training.

DOH-Pasco carries out a number of activities to identify disease and implements interventions to prevent the spread of disease.  Using sentinel and syndromic surveillance systems as early intervention tools, epidemiology staff monitor and detect disease clusters or outbreaks.  This work requires a strong network of community partners that are able to connect, communicate and respond. In addition to training infection control partners on emerging issues, the grant will support implementation and testing of a Health Alert Network that will expedite communication.  

For questions about the training email Garik.nicholson@flhealth.gov. To register visit https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/9M7GT9V