Columbia, MD – The Howard County Health Department’s Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) unit is the recipient of a NACCHO (National Association of County and City Health Officials) Tier 2 award of $10,000. This funding will allow for additional preparation and training of Howard County MRC volunteers, who are already highly skilled professionals, to provide support during public health initiatives and in times of emergency.
The vision of this unit is to ready volunteers for response to the health needs of Howard County by assisting the local community during public health initiatives and emergencies through the rapid and coordinated activation of trained and credentialed volunteers.
“The MRC volunteer response saves county residents hundreds of service hours and thousands of dollars each year. Being able to provide more frequent and varied training to our dedicated MRC members ensures an engaged and robust response to any type of mobilization” said Dr. Maura Rossman, Howard County Health Officer.
“Our Health Department’s MRC unit plays a vital role in ensuring we can meet the emergency needs of our local stakeholders, all while continuously striving to improve the health and safety of our residents,” said Howard County Executive Calvin Ball. “Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, our MRC team has been incredibly responsive to the needs of our community, and they deserve this recognition for their dedicated efforts. This award will help further strengthen the response capabilities of these volunteers and ensure they have the means necessary to get the job done when called upon.”
The MRC is a national network of volunteers, organized locally to improve the health and safety of their communities. During the 2020 COVID-19 response, MRC volunteers contributed approximately 840,000 hours of service, resulting in a workforce savings of nearly $24 million. Currently, the MRC reports approximately 3 million volunteer hours to support COVID-19 local response efforts, and the numbers continue to grow.
NACCHO represents the country’s nearly 3,000 local health departments. These awards, made possible through a cooperative agreement with the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response’s Medical Reserve Corps Program Office, will build the operational readiness capabilities of MRC units to meet the emergency preparedness and response needs of local, regional, and statewide stakeholders. More than $1 million in awards will support 129 units to build MRC response capabilities (Tier 1) or strengthen MRC response capabilities (Tier 2).
Learn more about the Howard County Medical Reserve Corp by visiting the HCHD website at www.howardcountymd.gov/health/emergency-preparedness.