Our Coalition

What is a Coalition?

Mizrahi, Terry and Beth B. Rosenthal (2001), in their article “Complexities of Coalition Building: Leaders’ Successes, Strategies, Struggles, and Solutions,” define coalition as, “an organization or organizations whose members commit to an agreed-on purpose and shared decision making to influence an external institution or target, while each member organization maintains its own autonomy.”

Why does our Coalition exist?

A number of types of disasters could negatively impact a community’s ability to provide effective health and medical services.   A regional approach to health and medical capability-building is based on the belief that the medical needs of the citizenry will be best met if healthcare organizations, essential partners, and other partners cooperate with each other and coordinate preparedness and response efforts.  The purpose of the SEMN Disaster Health Coalition is to facilitate preparedness to assist communities with building a Health and Medical Services (Emergency Support Function 8/ESF8) Capability to respond to and recover from disasters, especially those with regional impact.

Who is our Coalition?

The SEMN Disaster Health Coalition consists of organizations with responsibilities to mitigate the likelihood of a hazard negatively impacting the ability of a health and medical system to provide services and to prepare for, respond to, recover from consequences of a disaster.

The following groups are represented as part of the SEMN Disaster Health Coalition:  Emergency Management, Emergency Medical Services, Emergency Medical Services Regulatory Board, (EMSRB), Hospitals, Long Term Care Facilities, Public Health, Skilled Nursing Facilities, Specialty Medical Services, Tribal Health, and Volunteer Organizations Active in Disasters (VOAD).

Where is our Coalition?

The SEMN Disaster Health Coalition supports health and medical preparedness across southeastern Minnesota, which includes the following counties: Dodge, Fillmore, Freeborn, Goodhue, Houston, Mower, Olmsted, Rice, Steele, Wabasha, and Winona.

What does our Coalition do?

With the varied health and medical capabilities in communities throughout southeast Minnesota, the Coalition helps to ensure effective health and medical response (ESF#8) functions exist across the region.  Through cooperation and collaboration, the Coalition provides a forum to support communities in achieving an effective health and medical response function.

Operationally, Coalition partners carry out health and medical response and recovery activities within the parameters of statutory authority, jurisdictional Emergency Operations Plans and as defined in operational support compacts, mutual aid agreements, and memoranda of understanding or other operational agreements.

For more information about our Coalition please review our SEMN DHC Charter, SEMN DHC Advisory Committee Charter or contact your discipline-specific SEMN Disaster Health Coalition Advisory Committee member.

How well does our Coalition meet its mission?

The SEMNDHC Assessment provides insights into the strengths and weaknesses of the Coalition.  Findings from report will be used to drive improvements.