General Physics to provide AAR/IP to gauge overall response to H1N1 outbreak

Global performance improvement solutions provider General Physics Corporation (GP), a subsidiary of GP Strategies Corporation (NYSE: GPX), has been selected by the Maryland Department of Public Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH) to provide an After Action Report/Improvement Plan (AAR/IP) for the 2009 response to the H1N1 virus. GP will collect data from public health entities in order to gauge the overall response to the H1N1 outbreak and lessons learned, for DHMH to evaluate and consider for future pandemic response.

As a result of the widespread scope of the H1N1 pandemic influenza outbreak within the State of Maryland, hospitals and Local Health Departments (LHDs) have had the opportunity to demonstrate many of the capabilities needed to respond to a pandemic. The State response includes five Health and Medical Regions, including 45 hospitals, 24 LHDs, federally qualified health centers and other state agencies.

DHMH receives grant funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) through their Hospital Preparedness Program (HPP), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Public Health Emergency Preparedness Cooperative Agreement (PHEP) and Public Health Emergency Response (PHER) grants. As a condition of these grants, DHMH is required annually to facilitate drills and exercises throughout Maryland that demonstrate specified emergency preparedness and response capabilities. It has been determined that proper documentation describing real-world H1N1 preparedness and response activities can be used to satisfy some drill and exercise requirements for the current grant year.