This past year marked an important chapter in our journey of preparedness planning and response readiness within the Health Emergency Response Office (HERO). We were filled with gratitude and reflection as we celebrated our 20th anniversary and looked toward the next 20 years. Since our establishment, HERO’s work has grown and adapted to an ever-changing world. We have refined our mission to better reflect our role in sharing our collective expertise and unique position as a neutral platform for discussion and solution generation among community partners. We also recognize the importance of expanding our mission to include our commitment to building a sustainable pipeline of future public health practice leaders.
Here is our new mission statement:
- Planning and Coordination: Ensure health incidents and emergencies affecting the University community are addressed in a timely, efficient, and effective manner.
- Response Readiness: Coordinate health sciences personnel to assist in campus, local, state, or national health emergencies, and in so doing, provide unique experiential learning opportunities for students, staff, and faculty.
- Continuity of Operations: Ensure minimal disruption to the University's clinical and health science research enterprises through well-informed and coordinated response efforts.
- Teaching: Share public health and health emergency subject matter expertise through teaching and mentorship with undergraduate and graduate students.
- Consultation: Provide public health and emergency response expertise through consultation and support to public health, healthcare, and emergency management partners at the local, state, and national levels.
As members of the public health community, we have entered 2025 facing so many changes and challenges. Political divides, expanding climate impacts, stressed public health and healthcare workforces, and continued examples of global, national, and local health inequities are daily realities. It would be easy to feel discouraged. But those challenges are outweighed by the people we are privileged to work alongside every day. The students, staff, and faculty on our five campuses; our planning and response partners within state and local public health and healthcare organizations; and our supportive leaders at all levels demonstrate the meaning of mission-driven, resilient, passion for the health and wellbeing of all. To learn more about our collective accomplishments in 2024, please look out for annual report, coming later this year.