PUBLIC HEALTH RESPONSE
The Auraria Campus has one centralized medical facility, the Health Center at Auraria, which is located in the Plaza Building, room 150. The Health Center at Auraria is a Tri-Institutional agency that provides health services for Metropolitan State University of Denver, University of Colorado Denver, Community College of Denver and AHEC personnel on the Auraria Campus. Given the unique nature of this Tri-Institutional campus, when public health issues arise it is the Health Center at Auraria who is called upon to respond and implementing a medical response on behalf of all Auraria institutions. The Health Center coordinates and works closely with administrative officials of each of the institutions to ensure synergy of response and to provide the clinical expertise often needed to makeoperational decisions. As an example, it is the Health Center at Auraria’s medical personnel and administration that develops, implements and provides the primary medical strategies, interventions and educational campaigns for responding to public health concerns. As such, the Health Center at Auraria’s response includes (but is not limited to) the following:
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Develops medical response that is provided to the Public Information Officers (PIO’s) of all institutions for distribution. Collaborates with PIO’s in the development of external messaging to ensure the correct clinical components are articulated appropriately.
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Develops and provides web-site content for public health concerns. Maintains the Health Center at Auraria web-site as a public health source of information for the campus which can be linked to by Auraria institutions from their individual home pages. Provides links to CDC and other official medical resources.
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Develops and implements plan of action for administration of vaccine, immunizations and/or other treatment protocols.
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Purchases/orders vaccine/supplies and submits all official paperwork for attainment of such resources from the appropriate private, state and federal agencies. Purchases the appropriate refrigeration necessary for medications, vaccines and immunization supplies and ensures that automated alarm systems are tied into the campus police in the case of a power outage.
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Purchases/hires associated temporary personnel to ensure adequate staffing for each occurrence.
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Purchases protective supplies such as masks, gowns, sanitizer, equipment, etc. Shares supplies with the campus community; amounts distributed are contingent on available resources; provides purchasing information for institutions who wish to purchase additional supplies.
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Develops and has installed appropriate computer connectivity for satellite distribution locations.
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Develops and maintains phone messaging system and content for incoming questions.
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Provides clinical expertise to the Auraria Executive Committee (AEC) and other associated campus committees with regards to all public health concerns; outlines how the Health Center at Auraria will respond and what clinical considerations are relevant for each particular set of circumstances.
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Establishes protocols and contingencies for all phases of managing the medical response for campus constituents; trains medical personnel on clinical intervention strategies.
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The Health Center personnel work closely with academic departments of all institutions to communicate with students/faculty in classes where exposure to a communicable disease may have taken place; outlines potential risk, mitigation strategies and necessary precautions.
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Develops and distributes educational and marketing materials to the campus community; develops e-mail messages that are sent to all institutions for mass distribution to constituents.
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Maintains disease surveillance and monitoring. Reports data to the State as requested.
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Serves as the Auraria campus liaison with public health officials and departments, coordinating public health response and medical interventions for the three colleges.
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Communicates all communicable disease occurrences to the each of the institutions regardless of which schools student, faculty or staff may be involved. Protocol is to communicate with the identified administrators within Student Services.
Pandemic Plan – MSU Denver 11-18-09 (258 KB)
