South Carolina PHEP: Reimagining Preparedness in a Post-COVID World - Despite only having a population of 5,373,555 as of 2023, South Carolina faces a host of challenges to protecting public health during disasters and emergencies. Factors ranging from high coastal population density to the presence of four (4) nuclear power plants in South Carolina, as well as two (2) others in nearby states which have South Carolina residents in their emergency planning zones, have long complicated emergency planning efforts and response to events with public health impacts. More recently, the COVID-19 pandemic presented with stark clarity the need to prepare for global public health crises lasting months or years. Since the pandemic, population growth has returned to pre-pandemic norms, with South Carolina being the fastest-growing state after Florida according to census.gov. Despite these and other challenges, South Carolina remains committed to preparing for disasters and emergencies with known or potential public health impacts in a way that provides the greatest possible benefit to disproportionately impacted populations and contributes to broader efforts to achieve health equity in our state. Over the course of the 2024-2029 performance period, the SC Department of Public Health (DPH, the Agency) will address these challenges by implementing the proposed strategies and activities using a continuous improvement-based approach. This will involve careful consideration of after-action reviews and consistent incorporation of implementation plan items and other lessons learned into plan updates, training and exercises. With all future public health emergency planning efforts, we will incorporate lessons learned from COVID about scaling up and down quickly and having robust plans and mechanisms for emergency hiring, contracting and procurement. By implementing the proposed strategies and activities, we expect to expand our capacity for public health surveillance and laboratory testing and more fully integrate these functions into our preparedness planning, training and exercises. By building, refining and sustaining program strategies and activities in accordance with the expectations and requirements laid out in the NOFO, we will achieve the PHEP logic model’s outcomes during the five-year performance period.
