HHS has awarded more than $971 million to improve preparedness and health outcomes for a wide range of public health threats within every state, eight U.S. territories, and four of the largest metropolitan areas in the U.S.
Awards for $352 million are going to the Hospital Preparedness Program (HPP) cooperative agreement and more than $619 million in awards are going to the Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) cooperative agreement.
HPP administered by the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) supports preparedness for healthcare systems, coalitions, and organizations. CDC administers PHEP funding to support the preparedness of state, local, and territorial public health systems. For the first time, the HPP and PHEP funds are being awarded jointly which follows a year-long effort by ASPR and CDC to align the two federal preparedness programs.
With aligned HPP and PHEP cooperative agreement programs, states and communities can more easily, efficiently, and effectively conduct joint planning, exercising, and program operations. While closely aligned in many aspects, HPP and PHEP will continue to remain individual programs with separate budgets.
The alignment has resulted in several key changes for the 2012 HPP PHEP grant cycle. The changes include the release of a single HPP-PHEP funding opportunity announcement, funding application, and grant award. An aligned grant cycle is also being implemented with the annual HPP-PHEP grant cycle beginning each July 1 and ending June 30 of the following year.
