Partnerships among public health professionals and agencies and private entities like non-profits, businesses, or community organizations, are not only a key strategy in advancing national health security, 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, second post, or third post).

In recovering from 2005’s Hurricane Katrina, officials in Harrison County, Mississippi, realized that the county Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and disaster preparedness approach needed vital improvements.

Prior to the hurricane, the county’s EOC was made up of government agencies and representatives. In the midst of disaster response, it was clear that many faith-based and non-profit organizations in the region were providing vital services and assistance, filling critical gaps in health resilience areas that the county’s agencies were not able to address—food, shelter, elder and child care, and transportation.

As a result, the county mobilized to build new relationships with the prominent faith-based and non-profit organizations in the area, working across the public and private sectors and create the South Mississippi Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (SMVOAD).

SMVOAD members from government agencies, faith-based groups, non-profits, and businesses meet monthly to discuss common concerns, identify gaps, and promote better use of available resources, focusing on critical health security areas such as elderly and special needs individuals, housing and shelter, food availability and security, medical supplies, and spiritual care. Leading members work to facilitate the coordination, communication, cooperation, and collaboration among those members and partners delivering services directly.

Through SMVOAD, non-profit and faith-based organizations on the Mississippi Gulf Coast now have a strong presence within the Harrison County EOC and are active participants in their region’s disaster preparedness and response efforts.

This post is the fourth 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: Community & Resilience Regional Institute (CARRI), resilientus.org)