FoundCare Completes Regional Public Health Emergency Preparedness Exercise in Riviera Beach
Operation Community Shield 2026 brought healthcare, public health, emergency management and first responder partners together for full-scale emergency response training to process approximately 517 simulated families
RIVIERA BEACH, FL (October 30, 2026) – FoundCare completed Operation Community Shield 2026, a full-scale public health emergency preparedness exercise at its Riviera Beach Health Center. The exercise brought together approximately 139 FoundCare employees and nine community partner representatives, with additional support from Riviera Beach Fire Rescue and the Riviera Beach Police Department.
The exercise focused on the activation and operation of a Closed Point-of-Dispensing (C-POD), an emergency response resource used to rapidly provide medication and medical countermeasures during a public health crisis. Activities centered on emergency communications, patient flow, inventory management, staff deployment and coordination among participating organizations.
From 1:15 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., the exercise processed approximately 517 simulated “families” through the POD. Based on that exercise pace, FoundCare estimates that the anticipated 3,000 simulated families in the scenario could have been processed in approximately 10 hours.
Community partner attendees represented the Healthcare Emergency Response Coalition of Palm Beach County, the Florida Association of Community Health Centers and the Palm Beach County Department of Health. Riviera Beach Fire Rescue and the Riviera Beach Police Department also supported the exercise.
“Preparedness is one of the most important investments a community can make in protecting the health and safety of its residents,” said Christopher Irizarry, Chief Executive Officer of FoundCare. “Operation Community Shield allows healthcare providers, public health officials and emergency response partners to train together, evaluate our capabilities and ensure we are ready to respond effectively when our community needs us most.”
Participants worked within a fictional large-scale public health emergency scenario requiring activation of FoundCare’s emergency dispensing capabilities. Simulated medications and training materials were used, and no actual emergency occurred.
The completion of Operation Community Shield 2026 reflects FoundCare’s ongoing focus on emergency preparedness, community resilience and maintaining access to critical healthcare services during times of crisis.
