In today's installment of the PHIG Impact Report, Jade Ramsdell, performance improvement director with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE), shares how KDHE is using the Public Health Infrastructure Grant (PHIG)...
In today's installment of the PHIG Impact Report, Jade Ramsdell, performance improvement director with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE), shares how KDHE is using the Public Health Infrastructure Grant (PHIG) to strengthen foundational public health capabilities across the state. This includes investing in its public health workforce and data modernization.
This work is supported by funds made available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), National Center for STLT Public Health Infrastructure and Workforce, through OE22-2203: Strengthening U.S. Public Health Infrastructure, Workforce, and Data Systems grant. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by CDC/HHS, or the U.S. Government.
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John Sheehan
This is the Public Health Review Morning Edition for Tuesday, November 4th, 2025, with news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. I'm John Sheehan. Today, another edition of the Public Health Infrastructure Grant, or PHIG, Impact Report.
Our guest is Jade Ramsdell, Performance Improvement Director for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. She's also the Project Director for PHIG, which, as we'll hear, has been used to strengthen Kansas' public health capabilities statewide. I think everyone in public health has felt like, across the country, you know, that we're holding up a house where beams are splintering, and we're just trying to catch up as much as we possibly can post the pandemic.
Jade Ramsdell
And so what we've been able to do at the department is rebuild from the ground up, invest in people who make public health possible, modernize data, all of those really fantastic things that are highlighted within the grant. But beyond that, we've seen a shift, and our department is constantly, instead of being in survival mode, we're patching cracks. We're looking at ways to sustain our work and to focus on building systems that are steady.
You know, in Kansas, we're using PHIG to pour new concrete at the very base of our system and build up from that, which is great. And I really see the grant as being modular. We've created this blueprint that enables us to not only fix what may have been broken or where we see an opportunity, but build a structure that can stand strong no matter what comes next.
John Sheehan
Jade says that streamlining technical assistance for local health departments was a priority.
