About the Center for Disaster Healthcare Preparedness

Jenni R. Guerry, Director-

 

As the Director of the Center for Disaster Healthcare Preparedness (CDHP) at the University of South Alabama, Jenni Guerry leads the strategic coordination and administrative oversight of the Alabama Healthcare Coalition (HCC) Coordination Program. With nearly twenty years of professional experience in emergency preparedness and management, she provides the executive leadership necessary to strengthen the state’s healthcare delivery system readiness.

In her role, Mrs. Guerry is responsible for the following core initiatives:

Strategic Oversight & Coordination: She oversees a comprehensive coordination program for Alabama’s nine Healthcare Coalitions, ensuring that regional assessments, planning, and exercises are integrated to enhance patient outcomes and continuity of care during large-scale emergencies.
Gap Analysis & Readiness Tracking: She directs the implementation of ongoing assessments designed to track planning accomplishments and identify preparedness gaps across the state's healthcare response system, including hospitals, nursing homes, and emergency management agencies.
Fiscal Management: She provides critical oversight of fiscal agent funds allocated to advance healthcare readiness, assisting coalitions in prioritizing projects and bridging resource gaps identified in jurisdictional work plans and budgets.
Training and Resource Strategy: Mrs. Guerry ensures the delivery of targeted, grant-funded training programs to address identified response gaps, leveraging her background as a certified instructor and Master’s Level Emergency Manager to maintain high standards of competency for Alabama’s healthcare professionals.
Professional Leadership: Beyond her duties at the CDHP, she serves as the Chairperson for the Institutions of Higher Education (IHE) Caucus within the Alabama Association of Emergency Managers (AAEM), representing the interests of college officials in the broader emergency management landscape.
Her career background includes significant service with the Alabama Department of Public Health on the Emergency Preparedness and Radiological Emergency Response Teams, providing her with a unique perspective on the intersection of public health and disaster resilience. Under her direction, the CDHP continues to serve as a vital link between state and federal programs and the local coalitions that protect Alabama's citizens during crises.

 

Elizabeth Williams, M.P.H.

 

As the Senior Manager and Associate Director of Preparedness Training for the Center for Disaster Healthcare Preparedness (CDHP) at the University of South Alabama, Elizabeth Williams, M.P.H., provides essential leadership in the development and execution of specialized training for the Alabama Healthcare Coalition (HCC) initiative. With an emphasis on public health emergency support functions and regulatory compliance, she ensures that Alabama’s healthcare workforce is equipped with the clinical and operational skills required to navigate high-consequence disasters.

In her role, Mrs. Williams is responsible for the following core initiatives:

Specialized Training Development: She leads the development and statewide implementation of the C.A.R.E. (Combatting Aggression through Response and Education) Training program. This reality-based curriculum provides healthcare staff with a foundation to address workplace violence, domestic aggression, and active shooter incidents within medical settings.
Regulatory Compliance & Standards: She ensures that CDHP training programs align with stringent regulatory and accreditation requirements, including those from CMS, The Joint Commission, and OSHA. Her work focuses on bridging the gap between administrative policy and the practical safety needs of frontline employees.
Coalition Coordination Support: Mrs. Williams serves as a primary subject matter expert for the Alabama Healthcare Coalition Coordination Program. She facilitates regional training sessions designed to enhance collaboration between diverse coalition members, including hospitals, EMS, and emergency management.
High-Risk Event Preparedness: She manages the delivery of training for high-risk, low-frequency events that cannot be effectively addressed through online modules, ensuring that providers across the state’s nine HCCs can maintain a culture of safety during critical encounters.
Crisis Standards of Care Development: She contributed her public health expertise to the multi-disciplinary committee that established the Alabama Crisis Standards of Care Guidelines, which provides the ethical and operational framework for allocating scarce resources during catastrophic medical surges.
Public Health Integration: Leveraging her extensive background as a former H1N1 Coordinator and Volunteer Coordinator (MRC/ESAR-VHP), she integrates public health surveillance and emergency volunteer management into the broader coalition preparedness framework.
Mrs. Williams' career is marked by distinguished service with the Alabama Department of Public Health, where she served as a Public Health Administrator for various statewide programs, including Tobacco Control, Safe Kids, and the Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program. Her deep institutional knowledge of Alabama's public health system makes her a vital asset in the ongoing mission to build a resilient healthcare delivery network across the state.