Project Highlight
ORISE Preparedness Group Garners Second Award for Pandemic Flu Contributions
For the second time this year, the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) has been recognized by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for improving health care preparedness across the nation.
ORISE's pandemic flu preparedness team and the CDC’s Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion were recently presented the CDC’s “Excellence in Innovation” award for their collaboration on various health care preparedness activities, including the creation of locally designed workshops and interactive tools that helped bring together various partners across the healthcare sector.
ORISE conducted preparedness workshops last year for communities from Winston-Salem, N.C., Champaign, Ill., Peoria, Ill., and Summit County, Ohio.
“We’re conducting workshops that are geared toward communities being better prepared for an influx of health care patients,” ORISE's Freddy Gray said. “Our activities are designed in ways that allow participants to really absorb information and utilize it in a more hands-on environment. We’re extremely honored and humbled to be acknowledged by the CDC for these efforts.”
The award was presented in June at an awards ceremony by the CDC's National Center for Preparedness, Detection, and Control of Infectious Disease's (NCPDCID) in Atlanta, Ga. This award comes just months after ORISE received CDC's Director’s Recognition Award for its efforts in pandemic flu preparedness.
The efforts of ORISE's preparedness team have led to the nomination of a third award, an Outstanding Unit Citation from the United States Public Health Services (USPHS) Commissioned Corps. The award, pending approval from the Commissioned Corps Award Board, is given to recognize work of national significance.
