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HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala said today that initial reports indicated no significant problems for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services or the nation's health care sector as the year 2000 began.

From the HHS Coordination Center in the Department's headquarters building in Washington, D.C., Secretary Shalala spoke after midnight with monitoring centers in HHS operating divisions, including the Food and Drug Administration in Rockville, Md.; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta; the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md.; the Indian Health Service in Rockville and Albuquerque, N.M.; and the Health Care Financing Administration in Baltimore. Each operating division reported a smooth transition, she said.

FDA reported continued normal availability for pharmaceuticals, and no early morning reports of problems with medical devices in the U.S. CDC and HCFA reported infrastructure systems to be trouble-free. The NIH said there were no problems at its Clinical Center hospital, and the IHS likewise reported no problems at its 49 hospitals nationwide. HHS also received initial reports from a cross section of private sector hospitals, indicating no problems.

In addition, Shalala said, the nation's Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network rolled into the new year without incident. The system is operated under contract to HHS by the United Network for Organ Sharing of Richmond, Va.

On New Years Eve, Shalala had also spoken by phone with the health ministers of New Zealand and Australia, to determine whether there were indications of Y2K glitches in health systems there. Both health officials said the transition in their countries was free of significant problems.

Monitoring of HHS agencies and the health sector will continue, with mission critical HHS systems to be checked during the weekend. For most HHS programs (including Medicare, the state-administered Medicaid program, and the state-run welfare programs), reporting on major program functions will take place when the work week begins Jan. 3. This includes functions like making payments to health care providers and ensuring that eligible beneficiaries are enrolled in assistance programs.

For more information on HHS monitoring, see the HHS Dec. 15 Factsheet, "HHS Monitors Health Sector."