Partnership Paying Off
In the south-central part of Iowa, you will find the city of Knoxville, home base to Service Area 1C (SA 1C), one of Iowa’s eight service area health care coalitions (HCC). Iowa’s Service Area 1C serves 11 counties, encompassing 12 critical access hospitals, 11 public health departments, 37 EMS agencies, and 8 emergency management agencies. SA1C PHEP Coordinator Stacy Haas, EMS Coordinator Teri Van Kooten & HPP Coordinator Rae King are all housed at Marion County Public Health and work as a team to complete workplans across disciplines. The successes of Service Area 1C are due to their strategic alliance and their partnership with the R7DHRE.
Last year, while working on the radiation annex for SA 1C, Rae reached out to Angela Leek (co-lead of the R7DHRE Radiation Specialty Team) for assistance. Rae, Stacy, and Angela worked together to complete the radiation annex for SA 1C, building off a framework Angela had created as a resource for HCCs throughout Region 7. In addition, Rae, Stacy, Angela, and Scott Wendt, the Radiation Safety manager at Iowa State University Environmental Health and Safety, were able to work together on creating a scenario for a radiation exercise held on May 18, 2023, by SA 1C & Scott Wendt to test their now completed radiation annex.
Rae has also stated that having access to resources like the DASH tool, R7DHRE Specialty Teams, Preparedness Webinar Series, and other course offerings has been invaluable. Last November, Rae, Stacy, and Teri were all able to attend the R7DHRE HCC Conference held in Kansas City, which they found valuable as it created a space to bring all the players to the table and share ideas and processes.
When asked about the impact that partnering with the R7DHRE has had on SA 1C, Rae said, “I believe the R7DHRE is an instrumental tool for the HPP program because of the leadership and guidance you offer.”
Looking to the future, Rae would like to see the R7DHRE continue with things like the regional HCC conference due to its networking and information sharing benefits. She also suggests that the R7DHRE continue to disseminate information and resources that can help to fill any gaps in the preparedness efforts of SA 1C. Rae believes that just because her service area may not be the biggest, they are mighty, and thanks the R7DHRE for helping her show just how mighty a rural service area can be.