2026 IHA Emergency Preparedness Exercise: Nov. 4
Location:
Webinar - 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Registration:
Registration Fees
The fee for IHA member hospitals and health systems is based on the hospital’s number of authorized beds.
Number of Authorized Beds
0-99* beds: $320
100-399 beds: $800
400+ beds: $1,600
*Illinois Critical Access Hospitals are invited to register and attend the 2026 IHA Emergency Preparedness Exercise, “Broken Trust: AI Takes Control,” at no charge.
Registration is being sponsored through the Illinois Critical Access Hospital Network (ICAHN) and is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of an award totaling $1,177,858 with 0% financed with non-governmental sources. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by HRSA, HHS, or the U.S. Government. For more information, please visit HRSA.gov.
Team Discount
Please contact IHAEP@team-iha.org for discount pricing for health systems or healthcare coalitions.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming healthcare, but its growing capabilities also introduce new risks to patient care, workforce stability, communications, cybersecurity, and healthcare operations. The 2026 IHA Emergency Preparedness Exercise, “Broken Trust: AI Takes Control,” will challenge Illinois hospitals and health systems to respond to a sophisticated cyber incident in which AI is weaponized to amplify the attack, manipulate trusted information and communications, disrupt the healthcare workforce, and create cascading impacts to clinical and business operations.
This live interactive webinar will immerse multidisciplinary hospital teams statewide in an evolving scenario designed to evaluate and strengthen organizational decision-making, cyber resilience, continuity strategies, communication pathways, and workforce stability. Throughout the exercise, participants will respond to scenario injects, assess critical operational decisions, and benchmark their approaches with hospitals and health systems across Illinois.
Objectives
At the conclusion of this program, participants will be able to:
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Analyze how effectively the organization coordinates a multidisciplinary response to a cyber incident involving AI-enabled threats and cascading operational impacts.
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Determine the organization’s capacity to maintain safe patient care and essential healthcare operations during a prolonged loss of IT, telecommunications, and other critical resources.
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Examine the adequacy of the organization’s redundant internal and external communications when primary telecommunications and technology systems are unavailable or unreliable.
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Test organizational processes for detecting, validating, escalating, and responding to malicious cyber activity and AI-enabled threats.
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Gauge organizational readiness to verify information, establish trusted sources, and make timely operational decisions when AI-generated or manipulated information challenges the authenticity and reliability of communications.
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Assess the organization’s ability to maintain employee safety, accountability, communication, and staff challenges resulting from AI-enabled misinformation.
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Analyze organizational readiness to prioritize restoration, validate the integrity of affected systems and information, and safely transition critical services back to normal operations following the incident.
Who Should Attend
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Emergency Preparedness/Management
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Information Technology
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Clinical Staff (Nurses, Physicians)
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Operations
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Security
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Facilities/Engineering
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Environmental Services
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Administration/Senior Leadership
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Communications/Media Relations
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Risk Management/Legal
Speakers
Keneatha Johnson, MPH
Assistant Vice President, Safety and Emergency Preparedness
Johnson has extensive experience over more than 16 years in public and private health and compliance environments. Her responsibilities at IHA include supervising preparedness activities at the state level. Johnson played a crucial role in co-leading the IHA’s pandemic response while managing over $10 million in federal grant funding through the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response. She excels at leading small teams that support healthcare preparedness efforts at the local, state, regional and national levels.
Stephen Weiler, MS, MEP, CPP, CPD
Manager of Resiliency Services, Tarian
Weiler leads Active Shooter/Threat and Techniques for Effective Aggression Management (TEAM®) programs, conducts security risk assessments, designs and delivers exercises compliant with the Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program, and advises clients on business continuity. Prior to working with Tarian, Weiler spent over 28 years as a law enforcement professional. He was integral in coordinating his organization’s response activities to the 9/11 terrorist attacks and H1N1, preparation for NATO 2012, and numerous regional incident management activities. In addition to these law enforcement duties, Weiler served on the Cook County Community Health Advisory Council, led a multi-jurisdictional public health prophylaxis dispensing program, was a member of a multi-jurisdictional task force preparing communities for active shooter incidents, and trained thousands of public and private sector personnel on the Incident Command System used by public agencies to manage emergencies.