Mission and Vision
Mission: In collaboration with the nation’s children’s hospitals and their communities, the network will coordinate, prepare, and enable high-quality, equitable, research-based pediatric care in emergencies, disasters and pandemics.
Vision: Improving health outcomes of children and the resiliency of children, families and communities impacted by emergencies, disasters and pandemics.
Participants & Partners
The Pediatric Pandemic Network launched with five children’s hospitals in 2021, and expanded to 10 in 2022. The network’s hospitals represent diverse regions across the U.S.:
- University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital (Cleveland, OH) – lead site
- Children’s National Hospital (Washington, DC) – lead site
- Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital (Chicago, IL)
- Children’s Mercy Hospital (Kansas City, MO)
- Saint Louis University – SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital (St. Louis, MO)
- Seattle Children’s Hospital (Seattle, WA)
- University of Alabama at Birmingham – Children’s of Alabama (Birmingham, AL)
- University of California San Francisco – Benioff Children’s Hospitals (San Francisco/Oakland, CA)
- University of Louisville School of Medicine – Norton Children’s Hospital (Louisville, KY)
- University of Utah – Primary Children’s (Salt Lake City, UT)
PPN’s hospitals work collaboratively with four federally funded national partners:
- The Emergency Medical Services for Children Innovation and Improvement Center (EIIC), funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration
- The three Pediatric Disaster Centers of Excellence (PD-COE), funded by the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response: Gulf 7 – Pediatric Disaster Network (G7), V for Kids, and the Western Regional Alliance for Pediatric Emergency Medicine (WRAP-EM)
The network also includes dozens of leading experts in pediatrics and disaster and pandemic preparedness from academic institutions, professional associations, nonprofit organizations, government agencies, and more. Through its participants and partners, PPN touches nearly every U.S. state and territory.
Goals
- Increase children’s hospitals partnerships with local, state, regional, and national emergency preparedness systems.
- Collaborate with community partners to address disparities and ensure health equity.
- Improve the pediatric emergency readiness of health care systems, including hospital and prehospital systems.
- Increase the capability of telehealth systems to address the unique needs of children and families.
- Accelerate the real-time dissemination of research-informed pediatric care.
Focus Areas
PPN’s subject matter experts are working on improving pediatric care in many settings, from primary care and telehealth to prehospital services and emergency departments. For the network’s second year, four project areas are identified as priority efforts.
Health Equity & Community Engagement: Ensuring that unique needs of underrepresented individuals and groups are included in disaster and pandemic preparedness and response, and that PPN’s work is informed by and reflective of the communities the network serves.
Infectious Disease: Improving disease surveillance and pediatric care capabilities to ensure health systems are prepared for existing and emerging infectious disease threats.
Mental Health & Behavioral Health: Providing tools and guidance to help address the ongoing youth mental health crisis, supporting expansion of pediatric mental health services, and promoting trauma-informed pediatric care.
Disaster Management: Developing, refining, and sharing pediatric-focused planning templates, reunification toolkits, drills and trainings, and other resources to improve care for children and families in disasters.
Funding
The network is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.