DHSS Press Release

DPH LAUNCHES AUTOMATED REGISTRATION SYSTEM FOR VOLUNTEER HEALTH PROFESSIONALS

The Delaware Division of Public Health (DPH), in collaboration with the Division of Professional Regulations and the Delaware Medical Reserve Corps, announce the release of the Delaware State Emergency Registry for Healthcare Personnel, or SERVDE, an automated registration system that establishes and certifies the qualifications of the Delaware Medical Reserve Corps.

The Delaware Medical Reserve Corps consist of over 180 volunteer health professionals, such as physicians, dentists, nurses, pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, mental health counselors, therapists, and social workers, who would assemble for action in a health emergency. Through the SERVDE system, their identity, credentials, licenses, and training would be verified.

SERVDE is linked to a national system called the Emergency System for Advance Registration of Volunteer Health Professionals (ESAR-VHP). The system will :

• Register and collect personal and professional data to enable emergency credentialing
• Issue credentials after validating licenses, by expertise, and
• Deploy volunteers through the state's emergency notification system.

"We applaud the Division of Public Health for undertaking this significant project. Our participation in ESAR-VHP is certainly a logical extension of our mission to protect the health, safety and welfare of Delaware's citizens," said James Collins, Director of the Division of Professional Regulation. "To that end, we are extremely pleased that the new system will interface daily with our licensing database to validate the credentials of healthcare volunteers."

SERVDE will also be expanded to include credentialing for appropriate Division of Public Health (DPH) Long Term Care employees and housing contact information for DPH employees assigned to the State Health Operations Center.

DPH contracted with Collaborative Fusion, Inc (CFI) to develop this system and partnered in the testing phase with the Division of Professional Regulations to ensure current licensing information.

The SERVEDE system can be accessed by visiting www.servde.org

For more information contact Tim O'Hea, DPH Public Health Preparedness Section, at 302-223-1728

Delaware Health and Social Services is committed to improving the quality of the lives of Delaware's citizens by promoting health and well-being, fostering self-sufficiency, and protecting vulnerable populations.