Health Care CEMP Program

Reviewing and approving Healthcare Comprehensive Emergency Management Plans (CEMP)

Our Office of Emergency Management is responsible for reviewing and approving a growing number of Comprehensive Emergency Management Plans (CEMP) for licensed healthcare facilities in the County including:

Adult day cares
Assisted living facilities
Hospitals
Nursing homes
Surgical centers
Intermediate Care Facilities
Transitional Living Facilities

The facilities are required by the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) to have an approved CEMP to renew their license annually. Florida Statute 252, the Florida Administrative Code, County requirements, and the AHCA Planning Criteria are utilized to support the approval of plans.

Submitting plans

We only accept Healthcare Comprehensive Emergency Management Plans (HCEMP) through the HCEMP Portal. The Office of Emergency Management provides all facilities their login information. For questions about the HCEMP Portal, please email the Office of Emergency Management or call (813) 236-3800.

Get started

What you will need:

Access to the HCEMP Portal from the Office of Emergency Management

For questions regarding your login you can email the Office of Emergency Management or call (813) 236-3800.

A complete CEMP Criteria Outline including either:

The County’s official version of the AHCA Criteria for your facility type or

The AHCA criteria with page numbers indicating where the information can be found within the plan

If you do not have a completed CEMP, download the CEMP template for your facility: (Note: The Emergency Power Plan criteria is included in the Assisted Living Facility and Nursing Home CEMP Criteria Documents. The Emergency Power Plan information must be submitted along with the CEMP submittal.)

Current Approval Letter or Signed Stamp

This is for your Fire Safety Plan from the Fire Marshal's office of the jurisdiction where the facility is located (i.e. unincorporated Hillsborough County, City of Tampa, City of Plant City, City of Temple Terrace).

This differs from the Facility Inspection conducted by the Fire Department
Your Facility Inspection Report is not acceptable evidence of your Fire Safety Plan being approved

Health Facility Reporting System (HFRS) Information

The Agency for Health Care Administration requires all licensees to use HFRS as the approved database for reporting emergency status, planning, or operations
A user account is necessary to access HFRS
All facilities are required to submit proof of HFRS System Registration
The County will accept a screenshot of the login page as proof of registration

Mutual aid agreements

Updated mutual aid agreements with signatures and current dates.

HCEMP Portal

Approval process

After submission, we will review the Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan
- If you meet the requirements for submission, you will receive a letter of receipt from the HCEMP portal
- If the plan is missing documentation, or is found deficient / needs more information to complete, you will receive a letter notifying you of the corrections you need to make
- You have 30 days to submit corrections
After final review is complete and your plan meets the criteria, you will receive an invoice letter with instructions for how to pay online
Complete the payment online
Submit the payment confirmation to us through the HCEMP Portal
Once payment is confirmed, we will release your approval letter

See Fee Structure for Plan review.

Questions about plan submission or the review process, email Healthcare CEMP or call (813) 236-3800 Monday - Friday from 8 AM to 5 PM.

Helpful tips

The County does not review plans for Home Health, Hospice, Nurse Registry and Home Medical Equipment and Durable Medical Equipment company providers. Those plans are reviewed by the Florida Department of Health. For questions, please email DOH - EMPC Review or call (844) 234-9307.