The purpose of Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) Advisory Committee is to provide policy, program, and resource allocation recommendations to the State of Wisconsin Public Health Emergency Preparedness Program to assure that Wisconsin is prepared to effectively and efficiently prevent, detect and report, investigate, control, and recover from public health emergencies. The charge to this committee is to make recommendations to the Public Health Council on priorities and strategies to achieve public health emergency preparedness goals in Wisconsin.

The Public Health Council was created by 2003 Wisconsin Act 186 (Wis. Stat. §15.197[13]). By statute, the Council’s purpose is to advise the Department of Health Services, the Governor, the Legislature and the public on progress in implementing the state’s 10-year public health plan and coordination of responses to public health emergencies.

Meeting Facilitator: Brian Kaczmarski

Meeting Recorder: Hannah Sorensen

Time:

Topic:

Notes/Follow-up:

10:00AM

Welcome and Roll Call (Kaczmarski)

Walk-on agenda items

Approve previous meeting minutes

Present:

Absent:

10:10AM

PHEP Advisory Committee Business:

1. Opportunity for public comment (Kaczmarski)
2. WI Public Health and Healthcare Preparedness Update
   1. Public Health Council Initiatives (Kaczmarski)
      1. Updates to be provided pending April 7 Public Health Council meeting
      2. Issues Committee process for elevating issues
   2. Hospital Preparedness Program (HPP) Healthcare Emergency Readiness Coalition (HERC) Advisory Group Initiatives
      1. Vacant coordinator positions (Baldoni-Lake)
      2. Strategic plan update (Kaczmarski)
   3. Healthcare Associated Infection Workgroup Initiatives (Kaczmarski)
      1. Summary of key activities from previous HAI workgroup meeting (3/29)
   4. Other relevant initiatives (Kaczmarski)
      1. 2024 Republican National Convention (RNC) preparations
      2. Other?
   5. Opportunities for Alignment (Kaczmarski)
      1. Future opportunity (integrated exercise cycle)
      2. Other?
3. PHEP Discussion (Sorensen)
   1. PHEP 2023-2024 Funding Application
   2. PHEP 2022-2023 Deliverables
      1. PHEP Plan 2023 work group
      2. Local and Tribal Capabilities Support position
      3. Approved 2022-2023 local and Tribal self-directed deliverables
4. Discuss opportunities for embedding equity (Lee)
   1. General equity update
   2. ASPR Equitable Disaster Recovery Assessment Guide and Checklist
   3. ASTHO Resiliency Training Program
   4. Health equity trainings
      1. Schedule Health Equity 101
      2. Other topics of interest
5. DHS Board and Council Staff Meeting Update (Sorensen)
   1. Governor Evers' Proposed 2023-2025 Budget
      1. Statewide Budget Listening Sessions
   2. DHS webpage updates related to boards, councils, and committees
      1. Open Meetings Law
      2. Current board, council, committee openings
6. Items for referral to Public Health Council, as necessary (Kaczmarski)
   1. Status of PHEP Subcommittee membership
   2. Brainstorming
7. Other items for discussion (Kaczmarski/Sorensen)
   1. Public Health Infrastructure funding (Rombalski)
   2. OPEHC staffing and organizational update (Baldoni-Lake)
   3. Community EMS (Lee/Straubhaar)
   4. Ready or Not 2023: Protecting the Public’s Health from Diseases, Disasters, and Bioterrorism

2024 Republican National Convention (RNC) preparations

• OPEHC/DHS applied for a CDC Preparedness Field Assignee (PFA) with the intent that this position could support pre-, during, and post-incident activities for the RNC. CDC has approved the application and DHS/OPEHC is awaiting updates regarding whether an assignee has been matched with Wisconsin. If an assignee is matched, this is anticipated to be a 3-year placement starting in November. The position would be directly funded by CDC.

DHS Board and Council Staff Meeting Update

• Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) Deputy Secretary Deb Standridge highlighted critical portions of Governor Evers’ 2023-2025 DHS budget proposal, which was introduced February 15, 2023. Governor Evers dubbed it a “breakthrough budget,” leveraging Wisconsin’s unprecedented surplus to make investments in Wisconsin’s health care, behavioral health, public health, emergency response, and long-term care systems.
• This historic biennial budget prioritizes the health and well-being of every Wisconsinite. The budget proposal for DHS is, once again, anchored by Medicaid expansion. This would expand high-quality, low-cost Medicaid coverage to an estimated 89,700 Wisconsinites and generate $1.6 billion in state savings over the upcoming biennium. The budget leverages that savings to expand the benefits available to members through the Medicaid program to better meet their needs.
• During his State of the State address, Governor Evers declared 2023 the Year of Mental Health. His budget builds upon that declaration by providing more than $500 million to expand access to mental and behavioral health care throughout the state. Governor Evers’ budget supports a vast network of diverse and inclusive services to improve crisis response, invests in mental health access for individuals across their life span in their communities, suicide prevention, and expands substance use disorder services.
• The budget also recognizes that public health activities lay the groundwork for healthy communities, and that Wisconsin has historically fallen short in funding its public health efforts. Governor Evers proposes making the largest investment in public health to date to ensure a strong public health system that protects and promotes the health of all Wisconsinites.
• Governor Evers’ budget also responds to the state’s acute EMS crisis with a strategic range of approaches meant to expand education and training opportunities, provide flexible funding for emergency service providers, and support EMS workers experiencing PTSD. The budget also makes critical investments in restoring Wisconsin’s health care workforce across all sectors.
• For more information on the DHS budget visit https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/budget/index.htm.
• Visit the 2023-2025 Biennial Budget
  Public Comment Website, including information on Statewide Listening Sessions: https://legis.wisconsin.gov/topics/budgetcomments/

Ready or Not 2023: Protecting the Public’s Health from Diseases, Disasters, and Bioterrorism

• Trust for America's Health (TFAH) released its 20^th annual Ready or Not: Protecting the Public’s Health from Diseases, Disasters, and Bioterrorism report on Thursday, March 23, 2023.  A copy of the report and the report press release are available on the TFAH website.
• The report measures states’ preparedness to respond to a spectrum of health emergencies and to provide ongoing public health services based on 10 indicators.  It furthermore gives federal and state policymakers actionable data and recommended steps to improve the nation’s public health readiness.
• The report tiers states and the District of Columbia into three performance levels – high, middle, and low – placing 19 states and DC in the high-performance tier, 16 states in the middle performance tier, and 15 states in the low performance tier.
• Nine states showed notable improvement, moving up a tier: Delaware, Georgia, Maine, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Wisconsin moved from the middle tier to the high tier, compared to last year’s report.
• In addition, the report includes policy recommendations for action by the administration, Congress, and states including:
  • Increase funding in order to modernize public health data collection and to grow the size and diversity of the public health workforce
  • Rebuild trust in public health and protect and strengthen public health authorities
  • Invest in public health communications and counter misinformation
  • Ensure paid leave for all employees
  • Support the medical countermeasures pipeline
  • Prepare for extreme weather and environmental threats

11:25AM

Wrap-up and Adjourn (Kaczmarski)

11:30AM

Next Meeting: June 13, 2023 10:00 – 11:30AM