Written and maintained by CASRAI Editorial Board
Last updated
General information from federal program documents, not legal, funding or medical advice.
Short answer
The Hospital Preparedness Program (HPP) is a U.S. federal cooperative agreement program run by the Office of Health Care Readiness (OHCR) at ASPR, the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response. It funds state, territorial and large-city recipients, who in turn support healthcare coalitions: local groups of hospitals, emergency management, EMS and public health that plan and prepare together for disasters. Hospitals do not apply directly.
What is the Hospital Preparedness Program?
ASPR TRACIE describes HPP as seeking to improve communities’ abilities to prepare for and respond to disasters and public health emergencies, providing guidance and funding through cooperative agreements to awardees. OHCR administers HPP as one of four cooperative agreement programs, alongside the Regional Disaster Health Response System, Regional Emerging Special Pathogen Treatment Centers and the National Emerging Special Pathogens Training and Education Center.
The current period of performance is fiscal years 2024-2028 (the prior one ran FY 2019-2023). Eligible applicants under Sections 319C-1 and 319C-2 of the Public Health Service Act are state governments (including the District of Columbia), the local governments of Chicago, Los Angeles County and New York City, the territories (American Samoa, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and the Northern Mariana Islands) and the Freely Associated States (the Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau).
How the program is organized in practice
ASPR’s FY 2024-2028 materials organize the work in layers. ASPR describes three layers of structure for the work.
- Four outcome areas: establish and act on multi-year priorities; enhance and sustain healthcare coalitions; coordination; and continuity of health care service delivery.
- Nine core functions: assessment and risk mitigation; information sharing; specialty care planning and coordination; respond; health care workforce support; resource management; training, exercise and evaluation; continuity and recovery; and organizational development.
- Four activity groups: establish governance, assess readiness, plan and implement, and exercise and improve.
New in this period are a patient movement plan, a cybersecurity assessment and an assessment of the impact of extended downtime on health care delivery, with planning and exercises for each, plus a health care workforce support function. The cybersecurity mitigation work draws on the 10 essential Healthcare and Public Health Sector-Specific Cybersecurity Performance Goals.
What is a healthcare coalition?
A healthcare coalition (HCC) is the local or regional group through which HPP-funded preparedness work is carried out. ASPR sets minimum membership: leaders of organizations from health care (hospitals, health systems and facilities), emergency management (including the lead agency for Emergency Support Function #8), EMS and patient transport services, and public health. HCCs must have two acute care hospitals as members. The earlier “core” and “non-core” member model was dropped in FY 2024-2028 in favour of more flexible engagement.
Each HCC must have a Readiness and Response Coordinator (RRC), who is the coalition’s administrative and programmatic point of contact. The RRC leads reviewing and activating the Readiness Plan, supporting the HCC in steady state and in response, and engaging non-clinical community partners. An RRC can serve only one HCC.
Related concepts: ASPR, ASPR TRACIE and the capabilities documents
ASPR and OHCR
ASPR is the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) component that houses OHCR. OHCR administers cooperative agreements, training, technical assistance and shared practices for health care readiness.
ASPR TRACIE
ASPR TRACIE is ASPR’s Healthcare Emergency Preparedness Information Gateway, a self-service collection of disaster medical, healthcare and public health preparedness materials. It is a resource library, not a funding body. Our medical supply logistics guide covers how its supply-chain materials are used.
Healthcare Readiness Capabilities
The 2017-2022 Health Care Preparedness and Response Capabilities for healthcare coalitions remain active. ASPR says forthcoming National Health Care Preparedness and Response Capabilities build on, but do not replace, them and do not represent federal requirements.
Surge-related planning
ASPR does not set a single “surge capacity” figure for hospitals. Surge-related work appears under the resource management function, the patient movement plan and the extended-downtime assessment. For how a hospital structures its own response, see the hospital incident command system.
Where it matters for labs, clinics and supply decisions
Because resource management is one of the nine core functions, and the program asks recipients and coalitions to maintain a Resource Management Plan and an Information-Sharing Plan, supply planning is a coalition-level topic and not only a single facility’s. The extended-downtime assessment is relevant to any facility that depends on electronic systems to deliver care. Facilities that want to see how local risk is analysed can read our guides on hazard vulnerability analysis, emergency operations plans, the Strategic National Stockpile and PPE stockpile and surge demand planning. Those guides are separate from HPP, which is a funding and coordination program rather than a supply source.
| Question | What the ASPR FAQ says |
|---|---|
| Who can apply for HPP funds? | States, DC, Chicago, Los Angeles County, New York City, listed territories and the Freely Associated States |
| How much can a recipient keep for its own administration? | Up to 15 percent of the award for recipient-level direct costs |
| Is there a match? | $1 for every $10 in federal funds; waived for Chicago, New York City, Los Angeles County and the Freely Associated States, with a partial waiver of up to $200,000 for territories |
| Who must be in a coalition? | Health care, emergency management, EMS and patient transport, and public health leaders, including two acute care hospitals |
| Who is the coalition’s day-to-day contact? | One Readiness and Response Coordinator, assigned to a single HCC |
Common misunderstandings
- “Hospitals apply for HPP grants.” They do not. Awards go to the eligible recipients above; hospitals take part as coalition members.
- “HPP is the same as ASPR TRACIE.” TRACIE is an information gateway; HPP is a cooperative agreement program.
- “The capabilities documents are legal requirements.” ASPR states the forthcoming national capabilities do not represent federal requirements.
- “Core and non-core members still apply.” The FY 2024-2028 membership rules replaced that model with required categories.
FAQ
What is the Hospital Preparedness Program?
A federal cooperative agreement program administered by ASPR’s Office of Health Care Readiness that funds eligible state, territorial and city recipients to strengthen healthcare preparedness for disasters and public health emergencies. The current period covers FY 2024-2028.
What is a healthcare coalition?
A group of health care, emergency management, EMS and patient transport, and public health organizations, with at least two acute care hospitals, that coordinates preparedness and response in a community or region under HPP, supported by a Readiness and Response Coordinator.
Sources
- ASPR, FY 2024-2028 HPP NOFO Frequently Asked Questions (last updated August 16, 2024), checked October 30, 2026.
- ASPR TRACIE, Hospital Preparedness Program, checked October 30, 2026.
