LJWorld.com / Grant to help county shape pandemic plan

Lawrence and Douglas county

March 22, 2006

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State planning for a flu pandemic got a boost from a $1.1 million federal grant.

Douglas County's share of the grant will be $25,038, according to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. The Douglas County Health Department will use some of the money to pay part-time staff to fill in for employees who are away from regular duties while working on the local plan and participating in exercises designed to test that plan, director Kay Kent said.

"Pandemic flu will be our focus, and we need to complete our local flu plan," Kent said.

The health department will work with the county's public health task force, which was established after the 9-11 terrorist attacks. Several agencies are represented on the task force, including law enforcement and fire and medical, Douglas County Emergency Management, Lawrence Memorial Hospital and Kansas University's Watkins Student Health Center.

The health department has some part-time employees who could be working more, and it might be necessary to hire additional part-timers, Kent said. She wasn't sure yet how all the money will be spent.

"It's a one-time type of funding, so the one thing we don't want to do is spend it in a way where you would need to have ongoing work," Kent said. "The real focus is getting the plan done and getting it done quickly."

But she said she wasn't sure when the plan would be finished.

The pandemic flu plan will need to work with other emergency plans already in place with other agencies, Kent said.

"We don't want to start everything over again. We want to see how all the pieces fit together," she said.

The state already has a pandemic flu and preparedness response plan, which can be found at www.kdheks.gov/flu/pandemic_influenza.htm.

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