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Campus Health Initiatives

Emergency Planning

The health and safety of the Cornell community are top priorities for Gannett. We have a long-standing commitment to public health and emergency preparedness. This includes:

  • careful monitoring of public health issues and their actual or potential impact on our community
  • collaboration with many other Cornell departments, local providers of health and safety services, the Tompkins County Health Department, and the New York State Department of Health to assure proper care of the community in the face of an actual or potential threat to public health and safety
  • participation in Cornell, Ithaca, and Tompkins County emergency planning procedures and committees
  • maintenance of up-to-date emergency plans and procedures and regular training of Gannett staff to respond to a wide range of public health threats and emergencies

Emergency planning has emerged as a daunting challenge, for campus communities as well as cities and countries. In addition to planning for natural disasters, we must now consider the threats of biological and chemical terrorism and their potential impact on the Cornell community. We know from difficult experience that terrorism has a far-reaching impact, affecting the mental and emotional health of people far from the targeted location, and we understand the importance of appropriate and well-planned response. The SARS epidemic of 2003 highlighted the evolving reality that Gannett (and other university health services) will be centrally engaged in the challenges of the new era of international public health. Planning for an influenza pandemic requires a broad, unified university effort.

We take our responsibility to protect the public health of our community with utmost seriousness and strive to balance these growing needs and the more daily and personal needs of our community for medical, counseling, and health promotion services. Fortunately, many organizations, on-campus and in the Ithaca area, are working together to make sure we are as prepared as possible for emergency events that may impact our community. 

For more information, we encourage you to look at these resources: 

 

Emergency