Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Toolkit
Ramsey County: partnering with you to improve our community’s health care emergency preparedness.
Saint Paul - Ramsey County Public Health and Ramsey County Emergency Management and Homeland Security are working closely with the Metro Health and Medical Preparedness Coalition to support your facility’s emergency planning and response.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) has established new requirements for Medicare and Medicaid participating providers and suppliers. These requirements help us improve our emergency coordination by supporting relationships across public and private agencies across Ramsey County.
The following list of resources will help you navigate these new rules and assure that your agency is better prepared for a local emergency or disaster.
Planning guidance and examples
- Checklist for all providers
- Checklist for long-term care facilities
- After Action Report template
- Emergency sheltering, relocation, and evacuation for healthcare facilities template plan (Minnesota Department of Health)
- Minnesota Long-Term Care Preparedness Toolkit (Minnesota Department of Health)
- Emergency Operations Plan Development Guide and Template for Extended Care facilities (South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control)
- Emergency Preparedness for Long term and Assisted Living facilities resource page (Wisconsin Department of Health Services)
- Emergency Action Plan guidance (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
- Emergency Action Plan guidance (Occupational Safety and Health Administration)
Health Alert Notification (HAN) system
Saint Paul - Ramsey County Public Health works closely with the Minnesota Department and local health departments statewide to coordinate the Health Alert Notification (HAN) system. This system enables information exchange between state and local health networks, including healthcare facilities. To learn more or request that your facility be added to our HAN, email [email protected].
Commonly asked questions
Can you sign our agency’s plan?
We are unable to sign any legal documents regarding your emergency plan or identify your facility as a “priority” during response. We can, however, add information you provide to our existing mapping infrastructure so that first responders are aware of your clients’ needs. We can also add your plan to our secure database, in case of emergency only.
How can we collaborate best with Ramsey County Emergency Management?
Although we cannot guarantee your facility’s prioritization at a specific level (all responses are incident-dependent), specific detail around your agency’s location, staffing, and clientele is useful. We can use your address, service type, client/staff numbers to help us make decisions during responses.
How do you recommend we build preparedness capacity?
Ramsey County Emergency Management and Saint Paul - Ramsey County Public Health coordinate with other healthcare entities through the Metro Health and Medical Coalition to support your agency’s sustainment and recovery. Be sure and identify how you will communicate to your local Emergency Operations Center (EOC) when resources are exhausted. Be prepared to self-sustain for a time if we can’t immediately meet those needs.
Do you provide community-based, full-scale exercises?
We cannot provide or fund individual healthcare facility exercises. Our recommendation is to work with the Metro Health and Ready Preparedness Coalition to support ongoing exercises with public health and hospital partners.