From the thesis: "COVID-19 underscored significant inefficiencies in the coordination between public health preparedness (PHP) and emergency management (EM) in the United States. PHP, primarily led by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), focuses on disease surveillance and outbreak response; EM, overseen by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), is structured around disaster response and resource coordination. This separation has resulted in fragmented operations, jurisdictional conflicts, and challenges in integrating public health efforts with broader emergency response. This thesis applies Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats [SWOT] analysis to examine the effectiveness of PHP and EM in achieving the National Preparedness Goal. PHP's strengths include its specialized focus on public health emergencies and legal authorities for rapid emergency declarations but there are weaknesses in workforce shortages and inconsistent integration with the National Incident Management System (NIMS). EM's strengths lie in its frameworks, particularly through NIMS and the Incident Command System, but it faces challenges with funding, workforce attrition, and the expanding complexity of disaster response. Opportunities exist for improved cross-agency collaboration and expanded mitigation strategies, yet increasing disaster complexity threatens national preparedness. This study recommends stabilizing funding, clarifying leadership roles, and enhancing collaboration."