Partnerships among health professionals, health agencies and private entities like non-profits, businesses or community organizations, are not only a key strategy in advancing national health security, but they are also a way to increase the visibility and viability of public health projects, reducing development risk, mobilizing underused resources, and increasing overall cost-effectiveness in the process.

(This post is part of a series on public health partnerships; read the first post and second post).

The Miami-Dade Business Recovery Program was created in 2007 to assist businesses while recovering from a disaster and since then has expanded to focus on overall community health and economic resiliency, including a diverse range of local organizations, from hospitals and clinics to food retailers and utility companies.

Designed to ensure private sector emergency preparedness, response, mitigation, and recovery, the Business Recovery Program consists of many businesses, nonprofits, and educational institutions. A county-led initiative, the program operates in partnership with Florida International University, which dedicates a team to the ongoing development of unique tools, such as the Business Continuity Information Network.

This network operates as a web-based service through which public and private organizations can meet virtually to share critical information and resources to support continuity in a disaster. Using this information, emergency managers and local businesses can share information like open/close status and damage assessments of area hospitals, pharmacies, clinics, grocery stores, and other entities critical to securing the health of residents.

Trained members of the Miami-Dade Business Recovery Program also have a presence in the county’s emergency operations center. Physically sitting in the operations center gives private sector representatives direct access to reliable situational information that can impact their continuity of operations and their decision making. At the same time, they can have a communication channel to report their organization’s operational information to the county which helps the community as a whole share and utilize resources and, ultimately, help the community recover faster.

This post is the third part of our series on public health partnerships. To view related posts, check out the National Health Security Public Private Partnerships series.

For more information on national health security, visit www.PHE.gov/NHSS

(Source: FEMA, fema.gov)