MRC Strong - The Virginia Department of Health (VDH), Office of Emergency Preparedness (OEP) is applying for this MRC-STTRONG funding opportunity on behalf of all twenty-five Nationally recognized Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) units in Virginia. VDH OEP has a long history of successful grant management in the field of public health emergency preparedness. Virginia has consistently ranked in the high-performance tier for public health emergency readiness in the Trust for America’s Health annual report, including the most recent 2023 report. All local health departments in Virginia have achieved recognition under the National Association of County & City Health Officials (NACCHO) Project Public Health Ready Program. VDH manages a strong statewide MRC program with standardized policies and procedures, as well as a statewide volunteer database and alerting system. Redundant capabilities to manage the MRC program are in place at the local, regional, and state levels. Liability protection for MRC volunteers is codified in the Code of Virginia and significant partnerships are in place to maximize the effectiveness of the MRC program. Despite these strengths, VDH OEP has identified some gaps, vulnerabilities and areas for improvement that will be addressed as part of this project. Virginia as a whole has pockets of disadvantage persons that are at risk for poorer health outcomes relative to the rest of the state, particularly in rural and urban areas. COVID-19 has underscored the importance of using data and partnering with communities to improve community health outcomes. VDH as an agency has a strategy for Community Health Assessment and a Community Health Improvement Plan (CHA/CHIP) in place. The Virginia MRC units will assist the CHA/CHIP efforts by providing volunteers to assist in local efforts. VDH OEP will also shore up funding for local MRC unit coordinators that are currently at risk for long-term funding. At the same time, we will make additional improvements to the volunteer database and alerting system. This project is designed around Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound (SMART) objectives. Progress towards these objectives will be closely monitored and managed using a detailed Plan of Action & Milestones (PoAM).
