Coalition Projects

Coalition Projects

From conferences to exercises and much more, learn about New Jersey Healthcare Coalition projects to support members in the field.

 

Coalition Projects

MRSE: The 2025 New Jersey Healthcare Coalition (NJHCC) Medical Response Surge Exercise (MRSE) - Operation Lights Out has been completed! Thank you for joining us at the Operation Lights Out MRSE on Tuesday, March 11, 2025. The collaboration and problem solving we saw and heard throughout the exercise underscores the NJHCCs' purpose. We hope this exercise allowed you the opportunity to further refine your response and recovery structure while collaborating with other healthcare teams in your respective region(s). Please CLICK HERE to see our Situation Reports (SitReps) for each module, each module's associated triage tag spreadsheet (if applicable), our exercise PowerPoint, and our finalized Exercise Plan (ExPlan).

The New Jersey Healthcare Coalitions facilitate a Workplace Violence Prevention Workgroup that meets monthly to discuss matters as they pertain to the prevention of workplace violence in the realm of healthcare. The workgroup meetings include spotlight speakers, which are subject matter experts in the field of workplace violence prevention.

There are several plans being developed throughout this budget period (2024-2025). These plans are as follows:
  • Integrated Preparedness Plan (IPP)
  • Information Sharing
  • Resource Management
  • Medical Surge
  • Readiness
  • Response
  • Special Pathogens
  • Chemical Response
  • Radiological Response
  • Pediatric Response
  • HCC COOP
  • NJHA COOP
  • Burn Response
  • Evacuation
  • Preparedness
  • Recovery

A Hazard Vulnerability Analysis (HVA) and subsequent Gaps Assessment is a systematic approach to identifying hazards or risks that are most likely to have an impact on the demand for health care services or the health care delivery system’s ability to provide these services. This assessment may also include estimates of potential injured or ill survivors, fatalities, and post-emergency community needs based on the identified risks. The HVA process should be coordinated with state and local emergency management organization assessments (e.g., Threat and Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment [THIRA]) and any public health hazard assessments (e.g., jurisdictional risk assessment).

Please find the aggregated HVA data listed below:

The CDC requires recipients of Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) grants to conduct a comprehensive risk assessment every five years to identify and prioritize public health threats. New Jersey’s last assessment was completed in 2017, with the 2022 update delayed due to COVID-19. The New Jersey Department of Health (NJDOH) is now conducting a new assessment using a modified version of the Pennsylvania Public Health Risk Assessment Tool (PHRAT), originally developed by Drexel University, which evaluates hazards based on probability, population impact, response capability, and healthcare vulnerability. Subject matter experts and partners across state and local agencies contributed to the process, which focused on ten hazards: severe weather, pandemic, power failure, emerging infectious disease, mass gatherings, foodborne illness, terrorism (CBRNE), active shooter, cybersecurity attack, and hazardous materials. Results identified severe weather and power failure as the top threats, a shift from prior assessments that ranked pandemic and terrorism highest. Given New Jersey’s diverse geography—rural, suburban, urban, and coastal areas—risk rankings varied regionally. The PHRAT defines incident probability within a 100-year lifecycle to capture long-term threats like pandemics. Additionally, about 25% of participants recommended other hazards beyond the top ten as significant risks. Please see the Jurisdictional Risk Assessment below.

Jurisdictional Risk Assessment

Juvare is utilized by the New Jersey Healthcare Coalitions for organizational and situational awareness, communication, and regional response coordination. One of the many Juvare applications, EMResource, supports exercise and live event management by allowing users to create events, notify involved individuals and collect critical information necessary to effectively respond to medical emergency situations. Another application, eICS, supports response efforts by automating common workflows, such as form and report generation, including fully HSEEP-compliant After-Action-Reporting. Please visit our Juvare page for additional information.

There are no current equipment purchase opportunities at this time. For more information please send an email to rhcc@njha.com.

There are no upcoming external conferences or meetings at this time. For more information please send an email to rhcc@njha.com.