WTC Federal Responder Screening Program Has Had Difficulties Ensuring the Availability of Screening Services, and NIOSH Has Considered Expanding the Program to Include Monitoring

HHS’s WTC Federal Responder Screening Program has had difficulties  ensuring the uninterrupted availability of services for federal responders. After resuming screening examinations in December 2005 and  conducting them for about a year, HHS again placed the program on hold  and suspended scheduling of screening examinations for responders from  January 2007 to May 2007. This interruption in service occurred because  there was a change in the administration of the WTC Federal Responder  Screening Program, and certain interagency agreements were not  established in time to keep the program fully operational. However, the program  stopped scheduling and paying for these specialty diagnostic services in  April 2006 because the program’s contract with a new provider network  did not cover these services. In July 2007 we reported that NIOSH was considering expanding the WTC  Federal Responder Screening Program to include monitoring  examinations—follow-up physical and mental health examinations—and  was assessing options for funding and delivering these services. If federal  responders do not receive this type of monitoring, health conditions that  arise later may not be diagnosed and treated, and knowledge of the health  effects of the WTC disaster may be incomplete. NIOSH Has Not Ensured the Availability of Services for Nonfederal Responders Residing outside the NYC Metropolitan Area

NIOSH has not ensured the availability of screening and monitoring  services for nonfederal responders residing outside the NYC metropolitan  area, although it recently took steps toward expanding the availability of  these services. Mount Sinai’s subcontract with AOEC ended in July 2004, and from August  2004 until June 2005 NIOSH did not fund any organization to provide  services to nonfederal responders outside the NYC metropolitan area. In June  2005, NIOSH began its second effort by awarding $776,000 to the Mount  Sinai School of Medicine Data and Coordination Center (DCC) to provide  both screening and monitoring services for nonfederal responders residing  outside the NYC metropolitan area. DCC, however, had  difficulty establishing a network of providers that could serve nonfederal  responders residing throughout the country—ultimately contracting with  only 10 clinics in seven states to provide screening and monitoring  services. Lessons include the need to quickly identify and contact  responders and others affected by a disaster, the value of a centrally  coordinated approach for assessing individuals’ health, and the  importance of addressing both physical and mental health effects. Concluding Observations

Screening and monitoring the health of the people who responded to the  September 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center are critical for  identifying health effects already experienced by responders or those that  may emerge in the future. NIOSH, the administrator of the program, has been considering  expanding the program to include monitoring but has not done so. Therefore  we recommended in July 2007 that the Secretary of HHS take expeditious  action to ensure that health screening and monitoring services are  available to all people who responded to the attack on the WTC, regardless  of who their employer was or where they reside. As of September 2007 the  department has not responded to this recommendation. Finally, important lessons have been learned from the WTC disaster. Consideration of these lessons by  federal agencies is important in planning for the response to future  disasters. Appendix I: Abbreviations

Related GAO Products

September 11: HHS Needs to Ensure the Availability of Health Screening  and Monitoring for All Responders. GAO-07-892. Washington, D.C.:   July 23, 2007.
Why GAO Did This Study

Six years after the attack on the World Trade Center (WTC), concerns persist about health effects experienced by WTC responders and the availability of health care services for those affected. Several federally funded programs provide screening, monitoring, or treatment services to responders. GAO has previously reported on the progress made and implementation problems faced by these WTC health programs, as well as lessons learned from the WTC disaster. This testimony is based on previous GAO work, primarily September 11: HHS Needs to Ensure the Availability of Health Screening and Monitoring for All Responders ( GAO-07-892 , July 23, 2007). This testimony discusses (1) status of services provided by the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) WTC Federal Responder Screening Program, (2) efforts by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to provide services for nonfederal responders residing outside the New York City (NYC) area, and (3) lessons learned from WTC health programs. For the July 2007 report, GAO reviewed program documents and interviewed HHS officials, grantees, and others. In August and September 2007, GAO updated selected information in preparing this testimony.

What GAO Found

In July 2007, following a reexamination of the status of the WTC health programs, GAO recommended that the Secretary of HHS take expeditious action to ensure that health screening and monitoring services are available to all people who responded to the WTC attack, regardless of who their employer was or where they reside. As of September 2007 the department has not responded to this recommendation. As GAO reported in July 2007, HHS's WTC Federal Responder Screening Program has had difficulties ensuring the uninterrupted availability of screening services for federal responders. From January 2007 to May 2007, the program stopped scheduling screening examinations because there was a change in the program's administration and certain interagency agreements were not established in time to keep the program fully operational. From April 2006 to March 2007, the program stopped scheduling and paying for specialty diagnostic services associated with screening. NIOSH, the administrator of the program, has been considering expanding the program to include monitoring--that is, follow-up physical and mental health examinations--but has not done so. If federal responders do not receive monitoring, health conditions that arise later may not be diagnosed and treated, and knowledge of the health effects of the WTC disaster may be incomplete. NIOSH has not ensured the availability of screening and monitoring services for nonfederal responders residing outside the NYC area, although it recently took steps toward expanding the availability of these services. In late 2002, NIOSH arranged for a network of occupational health clinics to provide screening services. This effort ended in July 2004, and until June 2005 NIOSH did not fund screening or monitoring services for nonfederal responders outside the NYC area. In June 2005, NIOSH funded the Mount Sinai School of Medicine Data and Coordination Center (DCC) to provide screening and monitoring services; however, DCC had difficulty establishing a nationwide network of providers and contracted with only 10 clinics in seven states. In 2006, NIOSH began to explore other options for providing these services, and in May 2007 it took steps toward expanding the provider network. However, as of September 2007 these efforts are incomplete. Lessons have been learned from the WTC health programs that could assist in the event of a future disaster. Lessons include the need to quickly identify and contact responders and others affected by a disaster, the value of a centrally coordinated approach for assessing individuals' health, and the importance of addressing both physical and mental health effects. Consideration of these lessons by federal agencies is important in planning for the response to future disasters.