The Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) has changed a lot in the five years since our last reorganization in 2018. Today ASPR is working on more high-consequence, no-fail missions than ever before. We have spent the last three years responding to a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic, several other disease outbreaks, hurricanes, and countless public health emergencies. In recognition of this work, we were elevated from a staff office to an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Simply put – we are not the same organization we were in 2018 and our organizational structure needs to reflect that growth and maturation.

Our reorganization establishes a structure that accounts for our expanded mission, addresses our new capabilities, prioritizes program accountability, and is clear and straightforward in its naming conventions. A few examples of the changes reflected in the new structure:

• The Strategic National Stockpile, whose work has grown significantly in scale and scope, will become its own Office reporting directly to the ASPR. It previously was three levels down in the Office of Response.
• When DOD left Operation Warp Speed at the end of 2021, the HCORE program was founded in ASPR to continue the operational and logistics work DOD had been leading. HCORE will now officially be reflected on our organizational structure as its own Office reporting directly to the ASPR.
• Throughout the pandemic, ASPR has been tasked with securing the public health supply chain and expanding the industrial base to ensure PPE and other critical supplies can be manufactured in the United States. This program will become its own Office reporting to the ASPR. It will be called the Industrial Base Management and Supply Chain Office.
• In addition, several ASPR-wide functions that have been buried within the organization such as Communications, Policy, Legislation, and Stakeholder Outreach will move into the Immediate Office of the ASPR to ensure seamless coordination across the entire enterprise.
• Finally, we have simplified the names of the Offices within ASPR. ASPR will now have an Office of Preparedness; an Office of Response; an Office of Administration; Office of Industrial Base Management and Supply Chain; Office of BARDA; Office of HCORE; and Office of the Strategic National Stockpile. This simplification of our naming convention is intended to increase role clarity both inside and outside of ASPR.

 

These are just some examples of the structural changes we have made. ASPR’s updated organizational structure enables us to strengthen operational capabilities, more effectively coordinate disaster response operations, develop our innovative medical countermeasure portfolio, and work with our partners in industry, health care, public health, emergency management, and more to strengthen health security. The work of every single organizational component and individual at ASPR is crucial to this mission.

More information on our updated structure is available here.