Oakland County Health Division serves 1.2 million of the 9.9 million Michigan residents. Oakland County is located northwest of the Detroit metropolitan area and is the second largest county in Michigan. As of 2015, the median age in Oakland County is 40.8 years old with roughly 15% (179,188) of the population age 65 years or older. The median income is $67, 465 with 10.1% of individuals living below the poverty level. Oakland County's population consists of 76.3% white, 13.9% black or African American, 6.3% Asian, and 3.7% is Hispanic or Latino individuals. The Oakland County Health Division (OCHD) has developed and maintained partnerships with 43 long term care facilities since 2011. After a needs assessment regarding emergency readiness, it was found that many administrators do not feel completely prepared to protect residents. By utilizing the new Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) emergency preparedness rule as a best practice, the OCHD implemented Oakland County's Emergency Preparedness Best Practices Program for Healthcare Partners with long term care facilities. Objectives included increasing bi- monthly partnership committee meeting attendance from 20% to 40%, improving administrators' level of preparedness to implement the new CMS emergency preparedness guidelines from 23% to 50%, and having 100% of partners understand OCHD emergency communication procedures. Activities to meet objectives included visiting administrators at their facilities to develop relationships, securing speakers and resources that directly help partners meet CMS requirements, sending formal invitations to meetings, and personal phone calls as meeting reminders. In addition, the OCHD Emergency Preparedness Unit staff provided speaker biographies for meetings, partner recognition for participation in the committee, in person emergency communication education, and conference calls with key public health officials during public health incidents. The OCHD Emergency Preparedness Unit continued conducting exercises and special educational events and seminars to meet the individual needs of group members. The outcomes from these activities proved to be very positive. The results included increased meeting attendance from average 20% participation to 50% participation, administrators feeling better prepared to meet the new CMS emergency preparedness requirements, and administrators having a better understanding of the OCHD emergency communication procedures. Other outcomes from this program include the development of a maintenance professionals subcommittee, a large increase in POD plan participation by partners, and improved emergency messaging practice scores using the Health Alert Network. These results demonstrate that objectives for this program have been met and exceeded. The primary factors involved in improved emergency preparedness among long term care partners included relationship establishment and maintenance, education, and OCHD staff support. Long term care administrators in Oakland County have created and practiced emergency plans that improve the safety of their residents and outcomes during an emergency. Administrators feel more confident they are prepared to act in an emergency for the wellbeing of their residents. Pre-established relationships between long term care administrators and the OCHD allow for streamline communication and quicker response during emergencies. This was recently demonstrated during a local water emergency when partners quickly responded to emergency communications and participated in emergency conference calls. https://www.oakgov.com/health/partnerships/Pages/Long-Term-Care-.aspx