The primary purpose of the SDHDC is to engage the entire healthcare and disaster community to work together toward emergency/disaster preparedness, response, and recovery. It accomplishes this through the following efforts:

• Promoting quality in the delivery of disaster patient/victim care services by assessing the level of healthcare preparedness, identifying gaps, and making recommendations on activities to address gaps.
• Supporting the needs of healthcare organizations while ensuring the on-going needs of the community are met.
• Developing and implementing effective practices including planning, education, and evaluation as they relate to emergency preparedness.
• Serving in an advisory capacity to the County Health Officer and Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) program by providing recommendations on county policies and procedures.
• Aligning with the National Response Framework Annex process: Emergency Support Function 8 (Public Health and Medical Services), the State of California Emergency Plan: Emergency Function 8 Public Health and Medical Annex and the California Department of Public Health Emergency Operations Manual process at the local level in accordance with NIMS and SEMS.