Secretary of Health and Human Services and former Wisconsin governor Tommy Thompson announced Thursday that Wisconsin would receive $9.2 million in federal aid in September to prepare for potential public health threats. The hospital grants would fund the establishment of decontamination and isolation areas, the stockpiling of medicine and vaccines and off-site patient care.

Thompson said states can apply for 20 percent of their allocated funding immediately to bear the cost of the smallpox vaccinations currently underway across the country. Wisconsin has already begun vaccinating health workers who would immunize the general public against smallpox if an outbreak were to occur in the United States.

The aid to Wisconsin is part of a nationwide $1.4 billion distribution of funding for 2003, specifically for dealing with any terrorist attacks or other public health emergencies.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has also promised Wisconsin $16 million in 2003, setting the total amount of Wisconsin public health funding at over $25 million this year.

California will receive the most from the CDC and the federal government at $94 million, followed by Texas at $81 million and Florida at nearly $64 million.

Thompson said this year’s funding is not the end of the efforts to bolster local health agencies against terrorism and other emergencies.

“Together, we’ve made strong progress in the past year to strengthen our public health systems, but this remains an ongoing endeavor,” Thompson said in a statement Thursday. “Our combined efforts will result in a stronger public health system to care for Americans in emergencies, whether it be an outbreak of the flu or a biological incident.”

Tommye Schneider, Madison’s environmental health and laboratories director, said federal funding in October provided emergency-response equipment and training for Madison police and fire departments. Federally funded purchases included communications, decontamination and air-monitoring equipment.

“We also have minimal protective equipment if we had to go out in the field,” Schneider said.

Bio-terrorism preparedness coordinator Steven Marshall said Wisconsin is preparing in many ways for any possible biological or chemical attack, including stockpiling pharmaceutical antidotes for chemical weapons and conducting disease surveillance.