PPSV Helps Yale New Haven Health System Fund Disaster and Bioterrorism Response Unit

September 5, 2007

Judith A. Buckalew Director of Public Policy and Legislation at Powers Pyles Sutter & Verville PC has secured $2.5 million in funding from the Department of Defense for theYale New Haven Health System Center for Emergency Preparedness to establish the National Center for Integrated Civilian-Military Domestic Disaster Medical Response. The Yale New Haven Health System is the only hospital system in the United States to be recognized by the Centers for Disease Control as a Center for Emergency Preparedness, a designation obtained with the assistance of Ms. Buckalew.

The new center is being developed in collaboration with the United States Northern Command (NORTHCOM ) and will devise ways for military and civilian doctors and nurses to work together during a disaster, pandemic or terrorist attack by creating standards for the organization and training of military and civilian emergency responders. Ms. Buckalew helped secure $2 million in start up funding for the Center last year.

Ms. Buckalew is a Principal at the law firm of Powers Pyles Sutter & Verville, and focuses her practice on federal legislative and regulatory matters with a specialization in appropriations funding.. She is one of the nation's leading experts in the area of counterterrorism related to the use of biologic agents and the role of public health officials in responding to terrorist threats. She organized and conducted the first Congressional hearing on the Nation's preparedness for epidemics and bioterrorism before the Senate Appropriations Committee. She holds a Masters from the UCLA School of Public Health and is a registered nurse and served as an intelligence officer in the US Naval Reserve.

Powers Pyles Sutter & Verville is a Washington, DC-based law firm that focuses on healthcare, education and the law of tax-exempt organizations. For more information, please contact Judi Buckalew at 202.466.6550 or e-mail judi.buckalew@ppsv.com.