WE NEED YOUR HELP?
Since 2002, our staff have led the West Central and Central Healthcare Preparedness Coalitions, bringing together healthcare facilities and response partners across 23 counties and one tribal nation through central Minnesota. When we plan together, we build a stronger, more resilient healthcare system.
Now, the federal grant that funds our Coalitions, and all eight Coaltions throughout Minnesota, is in jeopardy.
We need your help. The strength of our Coalition is in our membership. We are asking you to advocate for continued HPP funding for the West Central and Central Healthcare Preparedness Coalitions and all Minnesota healthcare coalitions. Here’s how:
- Understand the Proposed Cuts
Review the President’s budget request to understand the impact on hospital preparedness funding (bottom of page 13):
Fiscal-Year-2026-Discretionary-Budget-Request.pdf - Share Your Story
Tell us how the Coalition has support your preparedness and response work. Your stories will help make the case for continued funding.
Share your story here - Advocate for Continued Funding
Reach out to your federal, state and local representatives and ask them to support future funding of the HPP Grant and healthcare coalitions. Use the sample letter we’ve provdied and personalize it with examples of how the Coalitins has supported your work.
Find your representatives
Letter to Representatives - Spread the Word
Share our message and our attached flyers with your executive directos, C-suite, and advocacy departments.
West Central MN Healthcare Preparedness Coalition info
Central MN Healthcare Preparedness Coalition info
Our team remains committed to supporting our members and meeting grant requirements while we await funding decisions. Please reach out if we can assist you.
Shawn Stoen
Program Manager
Central and West Central MN Healthcare Preparedness Coalitions
(320) 760-3513
shawn.stoen@centracare.com
Health Care Facility Based Training Opportunities
Are you in need of respiratory protection training, decontamination training, or exercise development and facilitation at your facility? If so, the coalition now offers emergency preparedness planning, training and exercise services for a very reasonable fee at your facility. You don’t have to drive to us, we come to you!! The grant from the Assistant Secretary of Preparedness and Response (ASPR) does not allow us to provide planning, training or exercise opportunities at a health care facility level, but we recognize the need to for this service and want you to know that it is available.
Services Provided
- Drill facilitation
- Emergency communications consultation
- Environmental safety and security risk assessments
- Evacuation equipment training
- Exercise facilitation
- Exercise planning and coordination
- First receiver decontamination training
- Hazard and vulnerability development
- Incident command system training
- Physical security and environmental design assessments
- Plan and documentation review and development
- Pressure point control tactics and self-defense
- Professional speaking on emergency preparedness topics
- Psychological first aid
- Respiratory protection – fit testing
- Verbal de-escalation
Please feel free to reach out to your regional representative if you have any questions.
Shawn Stoen: shawn.stoen@centracare.com
Dave Miller: MillerDave@centracare.com
WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA HEALTH CARE COALITION GOES TO ALABAMA
The West Central Health Care Preparedness Coalition participated in the Healthcare Coalition Response Leadership Course in Anniston, Alabama during the week of August 6 – 8, 2019. Along with representatives from two other coalitions from Florida and California, the course offered the opportunity to share coalition best practices and discuss the role of the health care coalition in a response to public health and medical emergencies.
This course has been offered over 50 times during the past two years, however, during this course the participants were honored to have a visit from Deputy Assistant Secretary to the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response at the Department of Health and Human Services, Dr. Kevin Yeskey. Together with Dr. Richard Hunt, ASPR’s Senior Medical Advisor for the National Healthcare Preparedness program; Jack Herrmann, Acting Director of ASPR’s Health Care Preparedness Program, and Tony Russel, the Superintendent at the Center for Domestic Preparedness; Dr. Yeskey presented to WCMHPC a Letter of Commendation as well as a Certificate of Appreciation. It was quite an honor for all attendees.
Representatives from the WCMHPC include:
Shelley Svec, Horizon Public Health
Bev Larson, Stevens Community Medical Center
Kristi Wentworth, Otter Tail Public Health
Patrick Waletzko, Otter Tail Emergency Management
Lynn Seigel, Traverse County Emergency Management
Nathan Roy, Morris Emergency Medical Services
Scott Johnson, North Memorial Emergency Medical Services
Karen Meyer, Perham Health
Shawn Stoen, WCMHPC Regional Coordinator