Donna Bernard
Donna Bernard is a Contingency Management Consulting Group senior consultant with over twenty years of leadership experience in the public health field. She has demonstrated emergency preparedness planning and training experience and is is an expert instructor and facilitator.
For CMCG, Ms. Bernard recently supported our Spectrum Health System pandemic flu workshop and the NASD Business Continuity Planning Workshop on pandemic flu as a technical consultant and presenter. She also served as CMCG’s lead developer for a point of dispensing exercise for Westchester County Health Department and supported public health emergency planning efforts for two regional projects in Massachusetts.
Ms. Bernard recently retired from the New York State Guard where she retired as a Major. She served as an administrator in the Westchester County Health Department and was active in many aspects of emergency response planning and training. She was directly responsible for planning, management and implementation of logistical support for the organization (400 employees in 6 sites). This included overseeing the areas of Facility Management, Bioterrorism preparedness, Information Technology and Contracts and procurement. In the area of emergency preparedness, she was directly responsible for bio-terrorism response plan writing, planning for infrastructure enhancement; coordination of staff training; responsible for intra and interdepartmental emergency response grant funded contractual deliverables required by the CDC (HRI grant). This included development of RFPs, facilitation of consultant training sessions;
She also worked on the county Radiological Emergency Plan. Due to Indian Point Power Plant’s location within Westchester County’s borders, she had direct responsibility for coordination of the various response activities for the Health Department as it pertained to Indian Point Radioactive Emergency Preparedness.
While with the county health department Ms. Bernard also worked directly with outside consultants to adapt the county’s own Health Management system into an Incident Command System for emergency management including creation of job action sheets, operational branches and, based on public health core competencies, facilitated didactic and functional training for all staff.
Other positions held with the county included Coordinator for Laboratory Services, Westchester County Department of Health, from 1982 to 1984. In this position she established and maintained a functional and uniform laboratory service within the Health Department; was responsible for the development of specific laboratory procedures; establishment of new facilities; and the maintenance of Quality Control
She began her public health career as a licensed Medical Technologist (ASCP Board Certified) in various hospital positions.
EDUCATION/TRAINING
M.S. Community Health/Health Administration, LIU
B.A. Biological Sciences: Herbert H. Lehman College
A.A.S. Medical Technology WCC
FEMA certified ICS/NIMS/Radiological Preparedness