About Us

In 2018, the United States Department of Health and Human Services awarded the University of Nebraska Medical Center/ Nebraska Medicine one of two demonstration grants to develop a regional preparedness, all hazards health system that utilizes healthcare coalitions and teams from a diverse stakeholder group. This grant came to be the R7DHRE and aims to identify strategies for enhancing surge capacity in large-scale disasters, both in rural and urban communities. The health system connects stakeholders across the region through the implementation of telehealth technology, specialty teams, and a robust incident management system, which allows for resource request and allocation, patient and critical infrastructure tracking, damaged assessment, and integration of all key response agencies.

The goal of this project is a flexible, self-organizing R7DHRE that provides a grassroots readiness network during disasters, and includes the following specialty teams: behavioral health, biological, burn, chemical, pediatric, radiological, and trauma. This is one of four demonstration projects nationwide charged by the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR).