About the Preparedness Summit

About the Preparedness Summit

The Preparedness Summit is the first and longest-running national conference on public health preparedness. Since its beginning in 2007, the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) has taken a leadership role in convening a wide array of partners to participate in the Summit; presenting new research findings, sharing tools and resources, and providing a variety of opportunities for attendees to learn how to implement model practices that enhance the nation’s capabilities to prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters and other emergencies.

Over the last decade, the nature of threats to our national health security have changed significantly. As professionals in the public health preparedness space, we can expect these threats to continue to evolve. It is imperative that we adapt our public health practices to meet the demands of an ever-evolving threat environment. But how do we, as preparedness leaders, help our communities become more prepared to respond to and recover from uncharted catastrophic events? We can start doing so by discovering new and creative solutions to address events like pandemic diseases, the opioid crisis, active shooter emergencies, and cybersecurity threats.

Each year, the Preparedness Summit features experts from the healthcare and emergency management fields in addition to public health preparedness professionals to address the gaps between these life-saving industries in an effort to work more collaboratively and efficiently in the face of emerging threats. Reaching across these sectors leverages diversity of thought and advances the capacity of our communities to respond to and recover from emergency events. We hope that this conference will provide an opportunity to build stronger partnerships and encourage us to find innovative solutions with our allies.

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About the 2026 Preparedness Summit Theme

Policy and budget changes at the federal level are likely to have profound changes to the preparedness system. State and local governments and individuals are being tasked with maintaining their own preparedness. We can anticipate that this shift will require greater dependence on state and local coordination to address the threats faced by our communities.

The theme of the 2026 Preparedness Summit, “Protecting Our Communities: State and Local Preparedness in Action,” addresses this new reality, spotlighting the need for increased self-reliance on state and local partnerships. It recognizes that there may be some gaps in understanding current regional efforts and concerns about how intra- and interstate response will unfold.

This conference will be the beginning of what we hope will be an ongoing national conversation to focus on the evolution of the public health preparedness system. How can we start now to plan for tomorrow? How can a better understanding of successful, coordination response efforts at state and local health departments identify gaps to foster better intrastate, interstate, and cross-border coordination and management? How can we replicate successful regional and state models?

Join the 2026 Preparedness Summit to address the timely topic of state and local coordination as we operate in an evolving environment for preparedness and response. Add insights from your community to the conversation, help to advance the science of public health preparedness nationally, and take back strategies to foster community preparedness and resiliency amid today’s changing landscape. 

What do Preparedness Summit attendees had to say about the experience?

"The summit provided a plethora of information and tools to help public health professionals do their job. I offered opportunities to network with and learn from professionals."

"I felt this year's Preparedness Summit was a breath of fresh air. I believe the future of public health and health care preparedness lies in greater coordination, collaboration, and communication. By ensuring aspects of both public health and medical preparedness are represented in each session we can build stronger partnerships and create a more resilient nation."

"I really appreciated the thoughtfulness that the conference planners put into this summit."