§ 247d–3b — Partnerships For State And Regional Hospital Preparedness To Improve Surge Capacity

(a) The Secretary, acting through the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, shall award competitive grants or cooperative agreements to eligible entities to enable such entities to improve surge capacity and enhance community and hospital preparedness for, and response to, public health emergencies in accordance with subsection (c), including, as appropriate, capacity and preparedness to address the needs of children and other at-risk individuals. (b) To be eligible for an award under subsection (a), an entity shall— (A) be a coalition that includes— (i) one or more hospitals, at least one of which shall be a designated trauma center, consistent with section 300d–13(c) of this title; (ii) one or more other local health care facilities, including clinics, health centers, community health centers, primary care facilities, mental health centers, mobile medical assets, or nursing homes; (I) one or more political subdivisions; (II) one or more States; or (III) one or more States and one or more political subdivisions; and (iv) one or more emergency medical service organizations or emergency management organizations; and (B) prepare, in consultation with the Chief Executive Officer and the lead health officials of the State, District, or territory in which the hospital and health care facilities described in subparagraph (A) are located, and submit to the Secretary, an application at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may require; or (A) be an entity described in section 247d–3a(b)(1) of this title; and (B) submit an application at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may require, including the information or assurances required under section 247d–3a(b)(2) of this title and an assurance that the State will adhere to any applicable guidelines established by the Secretary. (c) An award under subsection (a) shall be expended for activities to achieve the preparedness goals described under paragraphs (1), (3), (4), (5), and (6) of section 300hh–1(b) of this title with respect to all-hazards, including chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear threats. (1) In making awards under subsection (a), the Secretary shall give preference to eligible entities that submit applications that, in the determination of the Secretary— (A) will enhance coordination— (i) among the entities described in subsection (b)(1)(A)(i); (ii) among one or more facilities in a regional health care emergency system under section 247d–3c of this title; and (iii) between such entities and the entities described in subsection (b)(1)(A)(ii); and (B) include, in the coalition described in subsection (b)(1)(A), a significant percentage of the hospitals and health care facilities within the geographic area served by such coalition. (2) In making awards under subsection (a), the Secretary shall give preference to eligible entities that, in the determination of the Secretary— (A) include one or more hospitals that are participants in the National Disaster Medical System; (B) are located in a geographic area that faces a high degree of risk, as determined by the Secretary in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security; or (C) have a significant need for funds to achieve the preparedness and response goals described in section 300hh–1(b)(3) of this title. (e) The Secretary may not award a cooperative agreement to an eligible entity described in subsection (b)(1) unless the application submitted by the entity is coordinated and consistent with an applicable State All-Hazards Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan and relevant local plans, as determined by the Secretary in consultation with relevant State health officials. (f) A political subdivision shall not participate in more than one coalition described in subsection (b)(1). (1) An eligible entity shall, to the extent practicable, ensure that activities carried out under an award under subsection (a) are coordinated with activities of relevant local Metropolitan Medical Response Systems, local Medical Reserve Corps, the local Cities Readiness Initiative, and local emergency plans. (2) Coalitions consisting of one or more eligible entities under this section may, to the extent practicable, collaborate with other coalitions consisting of one or more eligible entities under this section for purposes of national coordination and collaboration with respect to activities to achieve the preparedness and response goals described under paragraphs (1), (3), (4), (5), and (6) of section 300hh–1(b) of this title. (1) An entity that receives an award under this section shall maintain expenditures for health care preparedness at a level that is not less than the average level of such expenditures maintained by the entity for the preceding 2 year period. (2) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the use of awards under this section to pay salary and related expenses of public health and other professionals employed by State, local, or tribal agencies who are carrying out activities supported by such awards (regardless of whether the primary assignment of such personnel is to carry out such activities). (1) The requirements of section 247d–3a(g), (i), (j), and (k) of this title shall apply to entities receiving awards under this section (regardless of whether such entities are described under subsection (b)(1)(A) or (b)(2)(A)) in the same manner as such requirements apply to entities under section 247d–3a of this title. In submitting reports under this paragraph, a coalition shall include information on the progress that the coalition has made toward the implementation of section 247d–3c of this title (or barriers to progress, if any). A coalition described in subsection (b)(1)(A) shall make such reports available to the lead health official of the State in which such coalition is located. (2) The Secretary shall implement objective, evidence-based metrics to ensure that entities receiving awards under this section are meeting, to the extent practicable, the applicable goals of the National Health Security Strategy under section 300hh–1 of this title. (A) For purposes of carrying out this section and section 247d–3c of this title, in accordance with subparagraph (B), there is authorized to be appropriated $385,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2019 through 2023. (i) Subject to clause (ii), of the amount appropriated under subparagraph (A) for a fiscal year, the Secretary may reserve up to 5 percent for the purpose of carrying out section 247d–3c of this title. (ii) If for fiscal year 2019 or a subsequent fiscal year, the amount appropriated under subparagraph (A) is such that, after application of clause (i), the amount remaining for the purpose of carrying out this section would be less than the amount available for such purpose for the previous fiscal year, the amount that may be reserved under clause (i) shall be reduced such that the amount remaining for the purpose of carrying out this section is not less than the amount available for such purpose for the previous fiscal year. (iii) The authority to reserve amounts under clause (i) shall expire on September 30, 2023. (2) Prior to making awards described in paragraph (3), the Secretary may reserve from the amount appropriated under paragraph (1)(A) for a fiscal year and not reserved for the purpose described in paragraph (1)(B)(i), an amount determined appropriate by the Secretary for making awards to entities described in subsection (b)(1)(A). (A) From amounts appropriated for a fiscal year under paragraph (1)(A) and not reserved under paragraph (1)(B)(i) or (2), the Secretary shall make awards to entities described in subsection (b)(2)(A) that have completed an application as described in subsection (b)(2)(B). (B) The Secretary shall determine the amount of an award to each entity described in subparagraph (A) in the same manner as such amounts are determined under section 247d–3a(h) of this title. (A) Amounts provided to an eligible entity under a cooperative agreement under subsection (a) for a fiscal year and remaining unobligated at the end of such year shall remain available to such entity for the next fiscal year for the purposes for which such funds were provided. (B) The continued availability of funds under subparagraph (A) with respect to an entity shall be contingent upon such entity achieving the benchmarks and submitting the pandemic influenza plan as required under subsection (i).