Help & FAQ

What HRA does

Health Response Alliance is a U.S. nonprofit that helps healthcare facilities and responding organizations work together during public health emergencies and disasters. We facilitate collaboration across the response community by maintaining vetted partnerships, standing up a shared operating picture during incidents, and matching facility needs to organizations that can fulfill them.

The Health Response Hub

The Health Response Hub is HRA's secure operating platform. Vetted partner organizations, eligible facilities, and HRA staff use it to share situational awareness, post and claim resource needs, and document the response in real time.

How to engage with HRA

There are three primary ways to engage:

• Become a partner organization. If your organization can contribute supplies, personnel, transportation, or other capabilities during a response, request access at healthresponse.us/register.
• Register your facility. Healthcare facilities (community health centers, free and charitable clinics, behavioral health treatment, pharmacies, and similar) can sign up at the same link to receive support during incidents.
• Sponsor or fund the work. HRA is a 501(c)(3) public charity based in Falls Church, Virginia. Email tom@healthresponsealliance.org to discuss sponsorship.

For healthcare facilities

Access to the Hub is free for healthcare facilities. HRA's operating costs are covered by donors, sponsors, and grant funders. The three workflows below cover registration through your first posted need.

Register your facility

1. Go to healthresponse.us/register and select Healthcare facility as your account type.
2. Provide your facility name, type (community health center, free or charitable clinic, behavioral health treatment, pharmacy, or other), street address, and the primary point of contact's name, role, and work email.
3. Add the operational details we use for vetting: state and federal identifiers (NPI, CLIA, or state license number, depending on facility type), the populations you serve, and your normal hours of operation.
4. Submit. You receive an automated confirmation email immediately and a separate decision email from HRA staff, typically within two business days.
5. Once approved, the decision email contains an activation link. Use it to set your password and complete the remaining profile fields (capacity, emergency contact, and a short narrative of services).

Your first login

1. Click the activation link in your approval email within 14 days. The link expires after that window.
2. Set a password of at least 12 characters with a mix of letters, numbers, and a symbol.
3. Confirm your work email by clicking the verification link sent to your inbox.
4. Complete your facility profile. Fields marked with an asterisk are required before you can post a need.
5. Add additional users from your facility under Settings > Team. Each invited user receives their own activation link.

Post a resource need

1. From your facility dashboard, click Post a Need.
2. Pick the category: supplies, personnel, transportation, facility infrastructure, behavioral health support, or other.
3. Describe the need in one sentence, then add quantity, unit of measure, and the date you need it by.
4. Set urgency: routine, urgent, or critical. Critical alerts vetted partners and HRA staff immediately. Use it only for life- or limb-threatening gaps.
5. Add the delivery address and the on-site receiving contact (name, phone, and receiving hours).
6. Submit. Open needs are visible to vetted partners. When a partner claims your need, you receive an email and an in-portal notification.

For partner organizations

Partners are vetted organizations that contribute supplies, personnel, transportation, technical assistance, or other capabilities during a response. The four workflows below cover registration through running a claim end to end.

Register as a partner

1. Go to healthresponse.us/register and select Partner organization.
2. Provide your legal name, EIN, primary point of contact, and the state(s) where you can operate.
3. Attach a current certificate of insurance and a short capability statement (one page is enough). Acceptable formats: PDF or DOCX.
4. List the categories of resources or services you can deploy: supplies, personnel, transportation, technical assistance, or other.
5. Submit. HRA staff reach out to schedule a 20- to 30-minute vetting conversation.

The vetting process

1. Document review. HRA staff confirm the insurance certificate, references, and capability statement.
2. Reference checks. We contact one or two references you provide. Typical turnaround is three business days.
3. Vetting conversation. A scheduled call covers your concept of operations, geographic reach, decision authority during a response, and how you self-mobilize.
4. Decision and onboarding. On approval you receive activation credentials and an onboarding call with HRA staff. End to end, the full process typically takes seven to ten business days.

Claim an open need

1. From your partner dashboard, open Browse Open Needs. Filter by state, category, or urgency.
2. Select a need to see the full request, the requesting facility, and the receiving contact.
3. Click Claim. Enter the quantity you can provide and your earliest delivery window. Partial claims are allowed; the remainder stays in the open queue.
4. The claim enters Planned. Use this state while you confirm internal logistics and finalize delivery.
5. Move the claim to In Progress when goods or personnel are en route. The receiving facility sees this update.
6. Move the claim to Completed once delivery is confirmed by the receiving contact. HRA staff verify completed claims for the after-action record.

How deployment status works

Set your status from your partner dashboard. It signals how engaged you currently are so HRA staff and facilities can see who is leaning forward without sending another email.

State	When to use it
Monitoring	You are tracking the incident but have not yet mobilized resources.
Mobilizing	You have committed resources and are preparing to deploy.
Deployed	Your personnel, supplies, or services are on the ground.
Demobilized	Your operation has ended and assets are returning.
Recovery	You are supporting longer-term recovery work after the acute response.

Data, privacy, and security

The Hub does not collect protected health information. Facility-submitted needs are visible to vetted partners, HRA staff, and the facility itself. Personally identifiable contact details are limited to operational use during a response. Full details are in our privacy policy.