A healthcare emergency readiness coalition (HERC) is comprised of a core group of hospitals and healthcare organizations, local and tribal public health agencies, state, regional, and local and tribal emergency management, and emergency medical services, as well as additional members. These partners collaborate for the common goal of making their communities safer, healthier, and more resilient. Wisconsin has seven regional HERCs that support communities before, during, and after disasters and other health-related crises.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) Hospital Preparedness Program (HPP) funds Wisconsin’s HERCs. ASPR leads the country in preparing for, responding to, and recovering from the adverse health effects of emergencies and disasters. ASPR’s HPP enables the health care delivery system to save lives during emergencies and disaster events that exceed the day-to-day capacity and capability of existing health and emergency response systems.
HPP is the only source of federal funding for health care delivery system readiness, intended to improve patient outcomes, minimize the need for federal and supplemental state resources during emergencies, and enable rapid recovery. HPP prepares the health care delivery system to save lives through the development of health care coalitions (HCCs). In Wisconsin, these are known as HERCs.
The overall goal of the HERC is to help Wisconsin communities prepare for, respond to, and recover from a disaster as quickly as possible. Through coordinated preparation, response, and recovery efforts, HERC members work to create a more resilient Wisconsin.
NEW HERC Region 3 Mission, Vision and Objectives:
NEW HERC’s Mission:
To ensure that the collaboration of healthcare organizations and public / private sector partners coordinate their preparation for, and response to a mass casualty incident or catastrophic health event.
NEW HERC’s Vision:
To synchronize public health, tribal health, healthcare organizations, first responder agencies and emergency management in their efforts to enact a uniform and unified response to mass casualty incidents or catastrophic health event.
NEW HERC’s Objectives:
- Prevent the loss of life, property, and undue suffering in Region 3.
- Facilitate increased collaboration and communication of partners in Region 3.
- Identify common gaps in education and knowledge of partners in Region 3.
- Identify emerging change in practice related to preparedness for partners in Region 3.
- Coordinate identified trainings needs for partners in Region 3.
- Disseminate emerging information and guidance to partners in Region 3
- Identify new resources for partners in region 3.
If you are interested in visiting other Wisconsin HERC Regions click on the links below or visit WI DHS HERC Information page linked below.
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Visit HERC Region 1
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Visit HERC Region 2
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Return To HERC Region 3 Home Page
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Visit HERC Region 4
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Visit HERC Region 5
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Visit HERC Region 6
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Visit HERC Region 7
| PUBLIC HEALTH | EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT | DIALYSIS |
| Brown County Public Health | Brown County Emergency Management | Davita Dialysis – Green Bay |
| De Pere Health Department | Door County Emergency Management | Davita Dialysis – Fox River |
| Door County Public Health | Florence County Emergency Management | Davita Dialysis – Manitowoc |
| Florence County Health Department | Kewaunee County Emergency Management | Davita Dialysis – Marinette |
| Kewaunee County Public Health Department | Manitowoc County Emergency Management | Davita Dialysis – Sturgeon Bay |
| Manitowoc County Public Health | Marinette County Emergency Management | Davita Dialysis – Titletown |
| Marinette County Public Health | Oconto County Emergency Management | FMC Manitowoc – Frensenius |
| Oconto County Public Health | Oneida Nation Emergency Management | St. Vincent Dialysis Center – Green Bay |
| Oneida Community Health Services | St. Vincent Dialysis Center – Oconto | |
| HOSPITALS | HOME HEALTH | BEHAVIORAL HEALTH |
| Aurora Bay Area Medical Center | Bellin Home Health Care | Bellin Psychiatric Center |
| Aurora Baycare Medical Center | Door County Memorial Home Health | Brown County Community Treatment Center |
| Aurora Medical Center Manitowoc | Dickinson Home Health | Libertas Treatment Center |
| Bellin Memorial Hospital | Evergreen at Home-Home Health | |
| Bellin Health Oconto Hospital | Homecare Advantage | |
| Door County Medical Center | Interm Healthcare of Northeast WI | |
| Holy Family Memorial Hospital | Marquardt Home Health | |
| St. Clare Memorial Hospital | PRN Home Health & Therapy | |
| St. Mary’s Hospital | Recover Health | |
| St. Vincent Hospital | Woodland Village Home Health | |
| LONG TERM CARE | EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES | HOSPICE |
| Algoma Medical Center | Algoma Fire & Rescue | Aseracare |
| Anna John Resident Centered Care Community | Ashwaubenon Public Safety Department | Aurora at Home |
| Anna John Resident Centered Care Community | Bay Area Medical EMS | Compassus – Green Bay |
| Atrium Post Acute Care of Kewaunee | Brazeau Ambulance | Heartland Home Health and Hospice |
| Atrium Post Acute Care of Oconto Falls | Coleman Area Rescue Squad | Holy Family Memorial Hospice |
| Atrium Post Acute Care of Two Rivers | Community Ambulance Services | Homecare Health Services Hospice |
| Bornemann Senior Communities | County Rescue Services Inc. | Hometown Hospice And Homecare |
| Brown County Treatment Center Bayshore Village | Crivitz Rescue Squad | LE Royer Hospice |
| Crossroads Care Center of East Green Bay | De Pere Fire Rescue | Serenity Hospice Care |
| Crossroads Care Center of West Green Bay | Door County Emergency Medical Services | Southerncare Green Bay |
| Door County Memorial Hospital Skilled Nursing | Emergency Rescue Squad | St Paul Hospice Services |
| Edenbrook | Florence County Rescue Squad | Thedacare At Home |
| Golden Living Center – Dorchester | Florence County Rescue Squad DBA AHRS | Unity Limited Partnership |
| Golden Living Center – Florence | Gillett Area Ambulance Service | UP Health System Home Care and Hospice |
| Golden Living Center – Village Gardens | Goodman-Armstrong Rescue Squad | |
| Good Samaritan Society – Scandia Village | Green Bay Metro Fire Department | |
| Grancare Nursing Center | Kewaunee Area Ambulance Service | |
| Luther Home | Kiel Fire Department Ambulance Service | |
| Manitowoc Health Care Center | Long Lake Fire Department EMS | |
| Maple Ridge Rehabilitation and Care Center | Long Lake -Tipler Rescue Squad | |
| Maryhill Manor | Luxemburg Emergency & Rescue Association | |
| NEWCare | Mishicot Area Ambulance Service | |
| Odd Fellow Home | Mountain Ambulance Service | |
| Parkview Manor Health Rehabilitation Center | Niagara Area Emergency Unit | |
| Rennes Health and Rehabilitation Center – East | Oconto Falls Area Joint Ambulance | |
| Rennes Health and Rehabilitation Center – West | Oconto Fire Rescue | |
| Rennes Health and Rehabilitation Center – De Pere | Para Tran Ambulance | |
| Rivers Bend Health and Rehabilitation | Pembine-Dunbar-Beecher Rescue Squad | |
| Shady Lane Nursing Care Center | Silver Cliff Rescue Squad | |
| St. Mary’s Home for the Aged | Twin Bridge Rescue Squad | |
| The Bay At Oconto Health And Rehabilitation Center | Two Rivers Fire Department | |
| The Bay At North Ridge Health And Rehabilitation Center | Valders Fire Department Ambulance Service | |
| The Bay At Suring Health And Rehabilitation Center | Wausaukee Rescue Squad | |
| Woodlands of Gillett | ||
| Woodside Lutheran Home |
Genny Willemon
NEW HERC President
Genny Willemon serves as the EMR Coordinator and Safety chair for the Brown County Community Treatment Center (BCCTC). In this role she oversee development of the software systems for the building as well as all of the emergency preparedness functions needed for state regulations. Genny is responsible for running all the training and exercises for emergency preparedness as well as the electronic medical records software systems. She has been a part of the HERC since 2016. Prior to working at the BCCTC she was a 911 dispatcher for Brown County for 5 years.
Bill Manis
NEW HERC Vice President
Bill is a retired fire chief and emergency manager. He currently works part time as a clinical lead specialist in the ER at Holy Family Memorial Medical Center. He also has served on the Emergency Preparedness Committee at Holy Family and was the interim emergency manager in 2021. He continues to stay active in the fire service as an advisor with MABAS Division 128 and training officer for the City of Two Rivers Fire Department. He is a public safety consultant, and fire and EMS instructor with Lakeshore Technical College. He also works as a Deputy Coroner for Manitowoc County. He is one of the original members of the Brown County Division 112 Incident management team. He also serves on 3 volunteer board of directors: Friends of the Manitowoc family aquatic center, NEW RTAC and friends of the Manitowoc Fire Department. He looks forward serving the HERC in his second term as Vice President and serving NE Wisconsin to promote the mission of the HERC.
Stephanie Smith
NEW HERC Secretary
Stephanie is the EMS Outreach Coordinator at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College (NWTC) and services the (7) HERC Region counties plus others to support and maintain the relationships within the district.
She has been an active member of NEW HERC since 2014 and brings knowledge from previous roles in healthcare and public health emergency preparedness to the Coalition & Training and Exercise Committee.
Kevin Siehr
NEW HERC Treasurer
NEW HERC
Steve Pelch
NEW HERC Coordinator
Steve Pelch is the President of Auxilium LLC and is contracted with the State of Wisconsin to support the Wisconsin Office of Preparedness and Emergency Health Care for North East Wisconsin. Steve has been in related fileds for 32 years and is proud to be the Coordinator for NEW HERC. For fourteen years Steve worked as a Law Enforcement Officer and as a Firefighter and Paramedic in both Ashwaubenon and Prince William County Virginia. Within those roles he was a Field Training Officer, a Drug Recognition Expert, and a Community Resource Officer. Steve also spent 18 years as a Divisional Director for the Hospital Sisters Health System where he oversaw a team of 120 people encompassing ten departments at four hospitals. Responsibilities for Emergency Management and teh Environment of Care also fell under Steve’s control. Steve is excited to bring his experience to the NEW HERC.
Mike Tedeschi
NEW HERC EMResource/WISCOM SME
Mike works full time for the Green Bay Metro Fire Department as a Firefighter/Paramedic. Within his rolls on the department he also serves as the Deputy Commander of the departments Honor Guard presenting our nations flag at public relation events and conducting firefighter funeral honors. In 2012 Mike was requested to join the East Central Incident Management Team as a communications specialist. After completing his Command and General Staff training in December 2012 Mike joined the team and completed is Communications Unit Leader and Communications Unit Technician Training in 2015. After participating in exercises and trainings across the state Mike completed his Comm’s training with formal state recolonization as a ComL and ComT in 2017. As the NEW HERC WISCOM SME, Mike is here to assist our region in WISCOM and EMResource training.
Dr. Christopher Painter
NEW HERC Medical Advisor
Dr. Christopher Painter is a BayCare Emergency Physician who works at several different emergency departments throughout Wisconsin. He is the medical director for the emergency department at Aurora Medical Center Manitowoc County. He is also medical director for the Two Rivers Fire Department as well as the EMS services in Kewanee County. Dr. Painter is a flight physician who works with the University of Wisconsin-Madison MedFlight team. Other responsibilities include working as ringside physician for Mixed Martial Arts events in Wisconsin. Dr Painter, is very proud of and appreciative for the opportunity to work with the NEW HERC as the medical advisor.
Del Zugler
RTAC Coordinator - Region 3
Del works full-time for Eagle III Helicopter in Green Bay. He has been a Paramedic since 2005. Del has also been a police officer and firefighter within his public safety career. Del is a contracted employee of the state as the Regional Trauma Advisory Council Coordinator for HERC Region 3. Del has been in the position going into his 4th year. Del has been involved in the NEWRTAC as a council member for 7 year prior to his appointment as RTAC Coordinator. Del’s main focus is to improve our trauma system in our region. Del has been active in many exercises in the past years including rescue task force, stop the bleed and trauma basics. Del looks forward to continuing to improve trauma care and being involved in many emergency preparedness exercises in the future.
Dave Kobielak
Hospital Representative
Dave is the Emergency Management Coordinator for Bellin Health and has been in this role since November 2019. His responsibilities include supporting all Bellin Health facilities in their emergency preparedness work, participating on facility and system level incident command teams, managing the health system’s emergency mass communication system, as well as training and managing patient decontamination teams for Bellin Memorial and Bellin Oconto Hospitals. He also participates on the NEW HERC training and exercise committee. Dave has a background in EMS and Fire and has a degree in Fire and Emergency Response Management from UW Oshkosh.
Sara Lornson
Public Health Representative
Sara serves as a Public Health Nurse and Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) Coordinator for the City of De Pere Health Department. Sara has been a Public Health Nurse with De Pere since May of 2016, and PHEP Coordinator since January of 2018. As a Public Health Nurse, Sara is responsible for the department’s maternal child health, lactation, and home visitation program, lead prevention and case management program, and the Public Health Emergency Preparedness Program.
Deb Holschbach
Emergency Medical Services Representative
Deborah has been involved with EMS since March of 1990 when she became a Newton First Responder and has remained active with EMS in Newton and Manitowoc County ever since; currently an Advanced Emergency Medical Technician. She has served in various positions in the Manitowoc County EMS Association including secretary for over 10 years. She is the Trauma Coordinator at Holy Family Memorial Medical Center where she employed as a nurse in the Emergency Department.
Chris Hohol
Fire Service Representative
Chris currently holds several positions in the response community. These include: Interim Chief of Ledgeview Fire Department, Training Officer for the Village of Howard Fire Rescue Dept, State of WI Dept of Military Affairs as a National Qualifications System Specialist, Training Officer for the MABAS 112 Incident Management Team, WI DNR Northeast District Incident Management Team as Planning Section Chief, State of WI All Hazards Type 3 Incident Management Team as Planning Section Chief and Training Officer, Training Committee Chair for the Association of Wisconsin Incident Management Teams
Chris has 36 years of experience in disaster response, public safety, emergency management, and training in occupational safety risk management and the fire service. Chris has held various Chief positions in the fire service and was North American Emergency Services Director for a large multi- national federal contractor for 18 years where he responded and managed many large incidents of national significance. His responsibilities have also included serving on various state and federal advisory committees and task forces. He has extensive experience in deployment nationally and several international missions.
Todd Cummings
Law Enforcement Representative
Major Todd Cummings is with the Manitowoc Sheriff Office in-charge of the Support Division. More information coming soon on Major Cummings.
Nancy Bohrman
Long Term Care Representative
Nancy has been serving as the Administrator for Door County Medical Center (DCMC) Skilled Nursing Facility for the past five years. She serves as a member of the Emergency Management committee for DCMC and is responsible for the development and maintenance of Emergency Preparedness for the Skilled Nursing Facility. She has 30 years of experience working as a nurse in a variety of capacities.
Open Position
Emergency Management Representative
NEW HERC
Kaylynn Gresham
Oneida Nation Representative
Kaylynn Gresham is the Director of Emergency Management for the Oneida Nation. Kaylynn has worked in the Emergency Management field since 2007. Kaylynn has served on several boards focusing on Emergency Management during her career. Kaylynn served as a Tribal Representatives for FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation External Stakeholder Work Group. Kaylynn served as the Tribal Representative on the WI Strategic Plan Development Group. Kaylynn is currently the Vice-Chairwoman of WiTEMA (Wisconsin Tribal Emergency Management Alliance), an active member of WEMA (Wisconsin Emergency Management Association) as the Tribal Representative, and a member of the East Central Regional IMT (Incident Management Team). Kaylynn is also a veteran with Active Duty Service in the U.S. Army from 1991-1999 with an honorable discharge.
Open Position
Menomoniee Indian Tribe Representative
NEW HERC