Healthcare and Public Health (HPH) Sector

The Healthcare and Public Health (HPH) Sector is one of the 16 critical infrastructure sectors comprised of sector owners and operators and directed by Presidential Policy Directive 21 and the National Defense Authorization Act of 2021 to self-organize, in partnership with the government, around the mission to protect essential healthcare and public health assets and services from existential threats. As the Sector Risk Management Agency for the HPH Sector, ASPR’s Division of Critical Infrastructure is the lead organization for identifying Sector priorities and goals to address risk assessment, mitigation and management, and coordinating Sector activities and functionality to further those priorities.

Activities of the critical infrastructure sectors, including the HPH Sector, are conducted under the Critical Infrastructure Protection Advisory Council (CIPAC) framework. CIPAC is an advisory council chartered by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to support the implementation of the National Infrastructure Protection Plan. CIPAC provides a forum and certain protections to facilitate discussions and gather consensus advice on matters related to critical infrastructure planning, coordination and other relevant matters. More information about CIPAC, including its Charter, is available.

HPH Sector By the Numbers

​ 396 private sector owners and operators collaborate to protect critical infrastructure through the Sector Coordinating Council.

​ 20 federal, state, and local government partners coordinate cross-jurisdictional and interagency critical infrastructure protection activities through the Governmental Coordinating Council.

​ 200+ HPH Sector public and private sector partners collaborated to address urgent healthcare supply chain issues and build a framework for vaccine distribution nationwide in support of COVID-19 response.