Project Partners

Florida Health Care Association (FHCA) Education and Development Foundation
Established in 1956 in Tallahassee, Florida, the Florida Health Care Association represents over 1300 members and almost 800 facilities and is a recognized national leader for nursing home disaster preparedness. In 1983, the association formed the Florida Health Care Education and Development Foundation, Inc., a 501(c)(3) charitable organization dedicated to promoting scholarship programs for nurses and caregivers. The Foundation seeks private funding through foundations, grants and other contributions to accomplish its mission of enhancing the quality of care in nursing homes. The Foundation focuses on continuous quality improvement programs; mentoring; scholarships; and disaster preparedness, response and recovery. In 2006, the Foundation was awarded a two-year grant from the John A. Hartford Foundation to develop and promote disaster planning products and training materials for nursing homes in Florida and the southern coastal states. Additional information about Florida Health Care Association and the Education and Development Foundation is available at www.fhca.org.

The John A. Hartford Foundation
The John A. Hartford Foundation Founded in 1929, the John A. Hartford Foundation is a committed champion of training, research and service system innovations that promote the health and independence of America's older adults. Through its grantmaking, the Foundation seeks to strengthen the nation's capacity to provide effective, affordable care to this rapidly increasing older population by educating "aging-prepared" health professionals (physicians, nurses, social workers), and developing innovations that improve and better integrate health and supportive services. The Foundation was established by John A. Hartford. Mr. Hartford and his brother, George L. Hartford, both former chief executives of the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, left the bulk of their estates to the Foundation upon their deaths in the 1950s. Additional information about the Foundation and it programs is available at www.jhartfound.org/index.htm

The University of South Florida
The Florida Policy Exchange Center on Aging is a type II Research Center at School of Aging Studies with the mission to inform policymakers, media representatives, scholars, and advocates on policies, programs, and services for older adults.

The Florida Department of Health
The Florida Department of Health (DOH) is a network of skilled, intelligent and ambitious people committed to a mission to promote and protect the health and safety of all people in Florida. Through their Office of Emergency Operations, the Florida DOH is a partner in the Region IV ESF-8 Unified Planning Coalition along with Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Those involved include ESF8 leads from all Region IV states, health and medical partners from public and private agencies, high level planners, and emergency management staff. The department's Office of Emergency Management lent their impressive expertise to the development of the project's tools and materials and funded enhancements to the Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan's Software Application for Nursing Homes and the Emergency Preparedness Training & Exercise Guide for Nursing Homes.