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Page 2 of 4 <br />Revised July 2019 <br />The North Carolina General Assembly passed Session Law 2020-4 (H1043) to fulfill their constitutional <br />duty to appropriate all funds, including federal CARES Act funds appropriated or otherwise made <br />available under the COVID-19 Recovery Legislation, and to direct the use of those funds in a manner <br />that is consistent with the authorizing federal legislation and that responsibly provides for the public <br />health and economic well-being of the State. Through this legislation, the Coronavirus Relief Fund was <br />established. <br />II. Purpose: <br />In a high-risk setting like a COVID-19 outbreak, Long Term Care Facilities (LTCFs) must have very <br />strong infection prevention policies and procedures to prevent the spread of disease. This initiative will <br />create Regional Prevention Support Teams (RPSTs) in each of North Carolina’s 10 public health regions <br />to provide on-site infection prevention and control training and consultation to all types of LTCFs. The <br />goal of the RPSTs is to reduce the introduction of disease through on-site training and consultation with <br />facility staff in the use of evidence-based infection control procedures consistent with applicable CDC, <br />CMS and HHS guidance. This initiative is particularly important for residential facilities that do not <br />typically have health care professionals on staff. <br />RPSTs will be based in each of the 10 public health regions with operational and fiscal responsibilities <br />managed by one lead local public health department in each region, and will be supported by <br />NC DHHS/DPH project management and program oversight. The lead health department will be <br />identified collaboratively between NC DHHS/DPH and the public health regions. Each RPST will have <br />a prevention coordinator and additional training staff based upon the number of Nursing Home and <br />Adult Care Home beds in each region. Training for the RPSTs will be provided by the Division of <br />Public Health in collaboration with the University of North Carolina’s Statewide Program for Infection <br />Control and Epidemiology (UNC SPICE). <br />III. Scope of Work and Deliverables: <br />The Local Health Department shall: <br />1. Reach and engage the following priority populations: Work with administration of long-term care <br />facilities, including skilled nursing facilities, assisted living facilities, independent living facilities <br />and adult care homes, proactively for prevention, early detection and infection prevention strategies <br />for COVID-19 response. <br />2. Establish and Maintain a Regional Prevention Support Team (RPST): <br />a. On behalf of its region, the Local Health Department will maintain a Regional Prevention <br />Support Team (RPST) based on the budgetary guidance. Each RPST will have a Regional <br />Prevention Coordinator and additional prevention trainers, the number of which will be based <br />upon the number of Nursing Home and Adult Care Home beds in each region. Training for the <br />RPSTs will be provided by the Communicable Disease Branch (CDB) in collaboration with <br />UNC SPICE. <br />b. RPSTs will collaborate with UNC SPICE to develop an Infection Prevention and Control <br />curriculum to deliver to LTCFs tailored to the level of medical knowledge of employees in each <br />type of facility. <br />c. RPSTs, in collaboration with CDB, will develop communications protocols to ensure close <br />coordination and deconfliction with Healthcare Coalition Outbreak Strike Teams in their regions. <br />3. Maintain a Regional Leadership Team within the established public health regions: <br />a. The Local Health Department, in its role as lead health department in its region, will assemble a <br />Regional Leadership Team consisting of representatives from a majority of its region’s local <br />DocuSign Envelope ID: 243DF0DA-4637-4259-B8AD-6D5E166FA19E