Enhancing the Resilience of Healthcare and Public Health Critical Infrastructure

A planning committee of the National Academies’ Forum on Medical and Public Health Preparedness for Disasters and Emergencies will hold a workshop 9-10 December 2024 via webcast

The workshop will examine possible improvements to healthcare and public health infrastructure preparedness, aiming to identify vulnerabilities to critical public health infrastructure and opportunities to reduce risks and improve physical and digital resilience.

A workshop proceedings in brief will be published afterwards.

The workshop may include presentations and discussions that:

• Identify common challenges, key risks, and vulnerabilities of HPH critical infrastructure, including physical, cyber, supply chain, and operational aspects, through recent case studies and incidents.
• Examine the interdependencies of the HPH critical infrastructure sector and select other sectors (Energy, Water and Wastewater Systems, Transportation, Emergency Services, Food and Agriculture, Information Technology, and Communications Sectors) and the potential for cascading failures.
• Highlight opportunities to ensure continuity of operations through public-private partnerships, collaboration, and information sharing between HPH and interdependent critical infrastructure sectors.
• Explore strategies to reduce risks to critical infrastructure, recover from impacts, and improve the physical and digital resilience of HPH infrastructure (e.g., space, staff, stuff, and systems) during steady state and in response, particularly for infrastructure that supports populations who have been historically underserved, marginalized, and adversely affected (e.g., rural areas, health care deserts, etc.).

Please visit NASEM’s Enhancing the Resilience of Healthcare and Public Health Critical Infrastructure: A Workshop for more information.