Health and Human Networking

Following Account of HHS visit provided by guest blogger: Darice Xue

May 14, 2013

The second day of the Institute was geared toward a discussion of how epidemics affect national security concerns. We visited the Department of Health and Human Services’ Operations Center, where there were employees from various departments (including the CIA and the Department of Defense), contributing to the efforts of tracking disease and ensuring the well-being of American citizens. The room was equipped with countless computers and a wall made up entirely of television screens (think of a highly-sophisticated version of Hollywood Squares). An emergency briefing cut our visit a bit short – but I have to admit, it was cool to be in the midst of the fray.

We really got to see the Operations Center at work; I was impressed by the amount of precision exhibited by the Health and Human Services’ team: every news station was featured on the myriad of screens – and I could see that employees were covering multiple countries, making sure no health concern went unnoticed. Basically, this team makes it extremely difficult for the U.S. to be surprised or unprepared for most anything. From our discussion, we were able to explore the roles of both civilian and U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps analysts working within the department and see how HHS coordinated information between departments to send in fast and efficient responses to global health crises.

Washington D.C. is not all about epidemics, however – it’s about the contacts! In the midst of our travels between site visits, we experienced classic D.C. in that you’re likely to have chance run-ins with people who are from your past and doing great things, today. For example, as we were walking to HHS, we had the great fortune to bump into a friend of Professor Floyd: Jamie (Bay) Nishi ’04, now with Devex. On the spot, she briefed the class about her current job and offered to serve as a resource for us in the future. William & Mary friends are everywhere! And luckily for us students, those friends double as valuable contacts.