In March of 2020, COVID-19 arrived in New Hampshire and immediately impacted the entire health care continuum, our public health system, as well as the Foundation. It upended our society and economy, challenged our health care systems like never before, and changed the lives of far too many people here in New Hampshire, throughout the country, and around the globe.
For the last two years, the Foundation for Healthy Communities’ Granite State Health Care Coalition (GSHCC), has served as a touchpoint for the health care continuum across the state around priority issues, sharing data and information that informs the state and partners’ response to the pandemic, and identifying the challenges and what is needed to support a long-term response and recovery plan.
The Granite State Health Care Coalition serves as the statewide multi-agency coordinating entity serving healthcare, public health, EMS, emergency management and many additional partners. By collaborating with the New Hampshire Hospital Association and state public health officials, the Coalition has supported hospitals and partners across the care continuum to address issues of patient surges, testing and vaccination capacity, and continuity of health care service delivery throughout the state’s COVID-19 response.
In the early stages of the pandemic, the Coalition supported hospitals as they created surge capacity in their facilities, set up Alternate Care Sites and established community testing and vaccination sites while managing supply issues relative to personal protective equipment and testing equipment needs.
The Coalition continues to support the state’s pandemic response to proactively address variant surges, share up-to-date clinical and public health recommendations, convene health care partners, communicate vital updates on COVID-19 responses, evaluate COVID-19 metrics, and coordinate vaccine and anti-viral medication distribution efforts.
