New Operations Center Brings Health Department in Compliance with Federal Law

11.17.2009 by Elizabeth Ziegler

(KCPW News) Today, the Utah Department of Health unveiled a new department operations center in Salt Lake City that will be used to coordinate public health efforts during disasters like epidemics, earthquakes, hazardous waste spills or terrorist attacks. The DOC also brings the health department in compliance with federal guidelines. Health Department emergency manager Mike Stever says it’s a big improvement.

“In the past, everything that we had for coordinating a major disaster was kept in boxes that we would pull out if we needed it,” Stever says. “And what we have now is a set up state-of-the-art department operations center.”

Now, emergency responders have a 1,025 square foot room at the Cannon Health Building in Salt Lake City complete with video conference equipment, a comprehensive communications system and a backup generator. It took about six months to build and cost about $218,000, funded entirely with federal money.

But does this new center actually make the state a safer place to live?

“The short answer is ‘Yes.’ I mean, I live here too. And I cross my fingers that we never have to use it. But in the event of a disaster or emergency, we’ll be ready,” Stever says.

The Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act of 2006 required state health departments to have an operations center like this one. Health department officials say the agency was out of compliance for only two and a half months at the beginning of the current grant cycle, when the DOC was under construction.