Anne Parrott

Coordinating the Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) program involves ensuring Columbia County has systems and processes in place for health security, personal and community preparedness and ensuring our response plans are up-to-date for all hazards. Being a small, rural health department we will need to rely on additional response resources. So the coordination of our local Medical Reserve Corps volunteer unit is an integral part of the PHEP program. Transitioning into Public Health from a career as a Speech-Language Pathologist at a level 1 trauma center I brought a broad understanding of the full spectrum of care from pre-hospital to community based medical and public health services. This perspective enhances Public Health's partnerships, planning efforts and collaborations with Emergency Management, fire/EMS, local health care providers, long-term care facility partners, and community based organizations. As a rural county we rely on and value our stakeholder and partner teamwork and contributions. These relationships enhance the collaborative work we do in our communities with personal preparedness outreach, development, review and exercising of emergency response plans, training, grant writing, and volunteer management and coordination