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News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, June 7, 2006

Contact: HHS Press Office
(202) 690-6343

HHS Announces $1.2 Billion In Funding To States For Bioterrorism Preparedness

HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt today announced that the department has made available another $1.2 billion to the states, territories and four metropolitan areas to help strengthen their capacity to respond to terrorism and other public health emergencies.

�Improving our nation�s response to public health emergencies is an important part of securing America,� Secretary Leavitt said. �All emergency incidents -- whether naturally occurring, accidental, or terrorist-induced -- begin as local matters and with this program, states and communities will build on the preparedness gains they�ve made over the past four years.�

The funds will be used to improve infectious disease surveillance and investigation, enhance the preparedness of hospitals and the health care system to deal with large numbers of casualties, expand public health laboratory and communications capacities and improve connectivity between hospitals, and city, local and state health departments to enhance disease reporting. The funds will also be used to exercise existing response plans, test capabilities and evaluate improvements. These emergency preparedness and response efforts are intended to support the National Response Plan and the interim National Preparedness Goal.

The HHS funding is awarded via two separate but interrelated cooperative agreements. HHS' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is providing $766 million to develop emergency-ready public health departments by upgrading, improving, and sustaining their preparedness and response capabilities for �all-hazards� public health emergencies, including terrorism and other naturally-occurring public health emergencies.

Included in the CDC awards is targeted funding to expand the Cities Readiness Initiative (CRI) from 36 metropolitan areas to 72 metropolitan areas representing all 50 states. Tables are included with the release with a listing of all metropolitan areas expected to participate in CRI this year.

The goal of CRI is to ensure the selected cities are prepared to provide oral medications during a public health emergency to 100 percent of their affected populations. This entails enhancing each city�s dispensing plans with trained staff and developing and testing plans that include alternative means of delivery. Known as mass prophylaxis, this effort is considered the top public health priority identified in the National Preparedness Goal.

Also included in CDC�s $766.4 million is $5.4 million for the Early Warning Infectious Disease Surveillance program specifically for states bordering Canada and Mexico (including the Great Lakes States) for the development and implementation of a program to provide effective detection, investigation and reporting of urgent infectious disease cases in the shared border regions of the three nations. States included in this program are Alaska, Arizona, California, Idaho, Indiana, Illinois, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.

HHS� Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is providing $460 million for states to develop medical surge capacity and capability to deal with mass casualty events. This includes the expansion of hospital beds, development of isolation capacity, identifying additional health care personnel, establishing hospital-based pharmaceutical caches, and providing mental health services, trauma and burn care, communications and personal protective equipment. Hospitals and other health care providers play a critical role in both identifying and responding to any potential terrorism attack or infectious disease outbreak.

Over the past four years, HRSA�s Bioterrorism Hospital Preparedness Program has awarded funds to build the capacity of hospitals and other health care institutions to deal with large numbers of casualties. This year, the program will focus on improving the capability of local and regional health care systems to manage mass casualty events.

Table I�Total Funding Amounts For Each Jurisdiction

State/Jurisdiction	HRSA Allocation	CDC Allocation	Total Allocation
Alabama	$7,154,927	$11,332,549	$18,487,476
Alaska	$1,458,182	$5,176,673	$6,634,855
Arizona	$8,753,827	$15,468,991	$24,222,818
Arkansas	$4,531,309	$8,513,998	$13,045,307
California	$38,325,286	$54,396,954	$92,722,240
LA County	$15,084,217	$24,180,809	$39,265,026
Colorado	$7,221,888	$12,343,549	$19,565,437
Connecticut	$5,651,890	$9,872,607	$15,524,497
Delaware	$1,709,476	$5,511,936	$7,221,412
District of Columbia	$1,823,510	$6,702,385	$8,525,895
Florida	$25,638,227	$34,945,845	$60,584,072
Georgia	$13,330,420	$19,557,241	$32,887,661
Hawaii	$2,345,600	$6,130,741	$8,476,341
Idaho	$2,521,506	$6,389,623	$8,911,129
Illinois	$14,951,481	$20,613,241	$35,564,722
Chicago	$4,738,187	$11,685,667	$16,423,854
Indiana	$9,660,723	$14,502,083	$24,162,806
Iowa	$4,846,845	$8,810,613	$13,657,458
Kansas	$4,525,854	$8,724,480	$13,250,334
Kentucky	$6,585,429	$10,860,671	$17,446,100
Louisiana	$7,139,266	$11,478,386	$18,617,652
Maine	$2,434,432	$6,321,437	$8,755,869
Maryland	$8,645,984	$13,970,953	$22,616,937
Massachusetts	$9,983,770	$15,512,606	$25,496,376
Michigan	$15,395,465	$23,221,202	$38,616,667
Minnesota	$7,983,328	$13,134,147	$21,117,475
Mississippi	$4,759,591	$8,738,914	$13,498,505
Missouri	$8,951,388	$14,402,196	$23,353,584
Montana	$1,856,928	$5,616,551	$7,473,479
Nebraska	$3,067,393	$6,897,069	$9,964,462
Nevada	$3,818,014	$8,660,838	$12,478,852
New Hampshire	$2,404,444	$6,252,371	$8,656,815
New Jersey	$13,269,518	$18,894,214	$32,163,732
New Mexico	$3,276,757	$8,351,763	$11,628,520
New York	$16,937,704	$24,409,091	$41,346,795
New York City	$12,445,285	$22,942,162	$35,387,447
North Carolina	$12,948,887	$17,877,794	$30,826,681
North Dakota	$1,435,800	$5,147,111	$6,582,911
Ohio	$17,397,207	$24,190,050	$41,587,257
Oklahoma	$5,681,308	$9,732,169	$15,413,477
Oregon	$5,767,951	$10,251,502	$16,019,453
Pennsylvania	$18,776,677	$26,235,793	$45,012,470
Rhode Island	$2,089,651	$5,981,291	$8,070,942
South Carolina	$6,632,258	$10,852,835	$17,485,093
South Dakota	$1,630,322	$5,339,585	$6,969,907
Tennessee	$9,138,740	$13,759,228	$22,897,968
Texas	$33,177,278	$46,595,417	$79,772,695
Utah	$3,978,558	$8,023,438	$12,001,996
Vermont	$1,415,048	$5,144,876	$6,559,924
Virginia	$11,387,068	$18,466,632	$29,853,700
Washington	$9,562,647	$15,353,518	$24,916,165
West Virginia	$3,176,132	$6,994,949	$10,171,081
Wisconsin	$8,588,953	$13,246,911	$21,835,864
Wyoming	$1,241,982	$4,917,055	$6,159,037
Puerto Rico	$500,000	$10,109,253	$10,609,253
Territory
American Samoa	$335,451	$483,221	$818,672
Guam	$491,833	$658,616	$1,150,449
Northern Marianas Islands	$362,602	$518,846	$881,448
Virgin Islands (US)	$250,000	$563,765	$813,765
Freely Associated State of the Pacific
Federated States of Micronesia	$409,753	$562,809	$972,562
Marshall Islands	$333,447	$485,107	$818,554
Palau	$279,146	$423,673	$702,819
Grand Total	$460,216,752	$766,440,000	$1,226,656,752
Note: Puerto Rico, as in past years, is listed at the bottom of the states because it is funded using the state formula rather than a terrority.

TABLE II�Existing CRI Recipients

State	CRI City	Expanded CRI Jurisdiction (Only the largest cities are listed. This list does not include the entire geographical area)
Arizona	Phoenix	Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale , AZ
California	Riverside	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA
California	Sacramento	Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Roseville, CA
California	San Diego	San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA
California	San Francisco	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont , CA
California	San Jose	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara,CA
Chicago	Chicago	Chicago-Naperville-Joliet , IL-IN-WI
Colorado	Denver	Denver-Aurora , CO
Delaware	Philadelphia	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE
Florida	Miami	Miami-Miami Beach-Ft Lauderdale, FL
Florida	Orlando	Orlando , FL
Florida	Tampa	Tampa-St. Petersburg- Clearwater, CA
Georgia	Atlanta	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA
Illinois	Chicago	Chicago-Naperville-Joliet , IL-IN-WI
Indiana	Indianapolis	Indianapolis , IN
Los Angeles	Los Angeles	Los Angeles-Long Beach- Santa Ana, CA
Maryland	Baltimore	Baltimore-Towson, MD
Maryland	Washington D.C	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD
Massachusetts	Boston	Boston-Quincy , MA
Michigan	Detroit	Detroit-Warren-Livonia , MI
Minnesota	Minneapolis	Minneapolis-St. Paul- Bloomington, MN
Missouri	St. Louis	St Louis , MO-IL
Missouri	Kansas City	Kansas City , MO-KS
Nevada	Las Vegas	Las Vegas-Paradise, NV
New York City	New York City	New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA
Ohio	Cincinnati	Cincinnati-Middletown, OH-KY-IN
Ohio	Cleveland	Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor , OH
Ohio	Columbus	Columbus , OH
Oregon	Portland	Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton , OR -WA
Pennsylvania	Philadelphia	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE
Pennsylvania	Pittsburgh	Pittsburgh , PA
Rhode Island	Providence	Providence-New Bedford-Fall River , RI -MA
Texas	Dallas	Dallas-Fort Worth- Arlington, TX
Texas	Houston	Houston-Baytown-Sugar Land , TX
Texas	San Antonio	San Antonio , TX
Virginia	Virginia Beach	Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC
Virginia	Washington D.C	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD
Washington	Seattle	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue , WA
Washington D.C	Washington D.C	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD
Wisconsin	Milwaukee	Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI
The new jurisdictions eligible for funding to be included in CRI are listed in Table II:

TABLE III�New CRI Recipients

State	CRI City	Expanded CRI Jurisdiction Title (Only the largest cities are listed. This list does not include the entire geographical area)
Alabama	Birmingham	Birmingham-Hoover, AL
Alaska	Anchorage	Anchorage, AK
Arkansas	Little Rock	Little Rock-North Little Rock, AR
California	Fresno	Fresno, CA
Connecticut	Hartford	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT
Connecticut	New Haven	New Haven-Milford, CT
Delaware	Dover	Dover, DE
Hawaii	Honolulu	Honolulu, HI
Idaho	Boise	Boise City-Nampa, ID
Illinois	Peoria	Peoria, IL
Iowa	Des Moines	Des Moines, IA
Kansas	Wichita	Wichita, KS
Kentucky	Louisville	Louisville, KY-IN
Louisiana	New Orleans	New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, LA
Louisiana	Baton Rouge	Baton Rouge, LA
Maine	Portland	Portland-South Portland-Biddeford, ME
Mississippi	Jackson	Jackson, MS
Montana	Billings	Billings, MT
Nebraska	Omaha	Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE-IA
New Hampshire	Manchester	Manchester-Nashua, NH
New Jersey	Trenton	Trenton-Ewing, NJ
New Mexico	Albuquerque	Albuquerque, NM
New York	Buffalo	Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY
New York	Albany	Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY
North Carolina	Charlotte	Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord, NC-SC
North Dakota	Fargo	Fargo, ND-MN
Oklahoma	Oklahoma City	Oklahoma City, OK
South Carolina	Columbia	Columbia, SC
South Dakota	Sioux Falls	Sioux Falls, SD
Tennessee	Nashville	Nashville-Davidson-- Murfreesboro, TN
Tennessee	Memphis	Memphis, TN-MS-AR
Utah	Salt Lake City	Salt Lake City, UT
Vermont	Burlington	Burlington-South Burlington, VT
Virginia	Richmond	Richmond, VA
West Virginia	Charleston	Charleston, WV
Wyoming	Cheyenne	Cheyenne, WY

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Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are available at http://www.hhs.gov/news.

Last revised: June 20, 2006