The Oakland County Hospital Partnership Committee was developed at the end of 2001 and has continued to meet monthly for 14 years. The Hospital Partnership meetings provide a mechanism for continuous communication and preparedness planning for Oakland County’s 13 hospital partners.

Partners

Important partners at the table include:

• Oakland County Health Division (OCHD)
• Oakland County Homeland Security (OCHSD)
• Oakland County Medical Control Authority (OCMCA)
• Oakland Community Health Network (OCHN)
• Region 2 North (R2N)
• Oakland County Medical Examiner (OCME)
• Guest Speakers from various agencies

Meetings

Agendas for each meeting cover a wide range of issues and topics and new community partners are often brought to the table community to assist with complex topics. Early on topics ranged from basic equipment needs for such things as surge capacity and decontamination, to tougher issues such as mass fatality planning and morgue capacities. More recently, topics like MERS-CoV, flu, bedbugs, C. diff, norovirus outbreaks, active shooter situations, and Ebola have been discussed.

Initiatives

The Hospital Partnership Committee has developed emergency preparedness plans for initiatives such as:

• Mass Fatality planning through partnerships with the Oakland County Medical Examiner and Oakland County Funeral Directors Association
• Strategic National Stockpile Closed POD (mass dispensing) planning
• Planning for radiological emergencies

One of the most notable accomplishments of this group was establishing Mutual Aid Agreements or MOUs with all of the hospitals which could be utilized in an emergency requiring the evacuation of patients from one or more of our local hospitals. For more information, contact the Oakland County Emergency Preparedness Unit at 248-858-1318.