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Dr. Sameer Vohra, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, tells us about his state’s “Pause to Heal” campaign; Carolyn Mullen, ASTHO senior vice president of Government Affairs and Public Relations, discusses a recent meeting she...
Dr. Sameer Vohra, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, tells us about his state’s “Pause to Heal” campaign; Carolyn Mullen, ASTHO senior vice president of Government Affairs and Public Relations, discusses a recent meeting she attended where she heard from staff members with the House Minority Leader’s office; the National Coalition of STD Directors and ASTHO will host a webinar on May 22 that will feature a “policy 101” perspective focused on state legislative sessions; and Emma Talkington, ASTHO senior analyst on the Environmental Health team, recaps the State Environmental Health Directors meeting.
SUMMER JOHNSON:
This is the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition for Friday, May 17, 2024. I'm Summer Johnson. Now, today's news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.
SAMEER VOHRA:
The Pause to Heal campaign is designed around the idea that when people are in crisis, they deserve an opportunity to pause to heal and access the resources that they need for their mental health or other resources to help address that crisis.
JOHNSON:
That's Sameer Vohra, the director of the Illinois Department of Public Health. The state of Illinois is going all in on defining firearm safety as a public health issue. The Department of Public Health announced this week and has distributed more than 100,000 free gun locks. Vohra says the Pause to Heal campaign aims to educate citizens about the benefits of firearm restraining orders.
VOHRA:
That provides a temporary civil order that puts time and space between gun owners experiencing a moment of crisis and their firearms. This is a great tool. But surveys show that only about 10% of Illinoisans are familiar with this potentially life-saving resource.
JOHNSON:
Vohra says the department is planning for strategic messaging to different groups.
VOHRA:
As this campaign continues to unfold. We are hoping to provide specialized messaging to different groups, so that they're aware how much and how valuable this resource is and targeted towards those individuals that can take advantage and help those in need.
JOHNSON:
You can find a link in the show notes about the gun lock milestone in Illinois, and more information on the Pause to Heal campaign.
When something as important as public health funding is on the line, getting reliable information is key. That's why ASTHO's Carolyn Mullen went straight to the source. She sits down with Robert Johnson to discuss her recent meeting on the Hill in this week's View from Washington, D.C. report.
ROBERT JOHNSON:
Carolyn Mullen, good to have you back on the East Coast after a little time out west. How are you doing?
CAROLYN MULLEN:
I'm great. I had a wonderful time in San Diego with the public health infrastructure grantees last week, but great to be back here in Washington, D.C.
JOHNSON:
Well, we're glad to have you back. And you've already gotten into the swing of things again, you were at a meeting with the staff of House Minority Leader, Hakeem Jeffries, recently, what did you learn from that conversation as it relates to what ASTHO members might expect out of Congress in the upcoming fiscal year.
MULLEN:
It was such an awesome opportunity to hear directly from Jeffrey's leadership team. And I also got a chance to say hello to key partners in the audience, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and YMCA. But what we learned in that conversation should not be surprising to our listeners, is that the House majority will lead the fiscal year 2025 appropriations using below funding levels for negotiating these bills. And so it's really unfortunate because the Fiscal Responsibility Relief Act that was signed into law last year had bipartisan funding levels set. So, it's going to be a rinse, wash, repeat cycle that we saw last year, unfortunately, when it comes to appropriations. So Jeffries's office just confirmed our assumptions, and what we were thinking about, so that was sort of a downer part of the conversation. But again, it helps us know what's coming down the pipeline, so we can make sure our members are prepared for some pretty bad bills to be produced from the house, but to not worry, because we have the Senate that will probably keep to the FRA funding levels. And then we'll have final negotiations after the presidential election.
JOHNSON:
Thinking about the election, most of us are going to be focused on that between now and November. When you were at the meeting, you heard something that got you excited about what could come after the election. Tell us about that.
MULLEN:
So, this gets me really excited, Robert, one of the most awesome things that came out of this conversation was a real focus on bipartisanship, and building relationships across the aisle. This is completely different than what I heard in 2016. 2016, the rhetoric was very negative. It was us versus them. It was not collaborative, and Jeffries's staff really emphasized how their boss prioritizes building those bridges across the aisle, governing, and also understanding what the American people want. I love that change in tone. It's really going to be helpful. As we move into 2025, and I love that it's their top priority. And it's also ASTHO's top priority, we always work in a bipartisan way representing all states. So, I do think there's a natural collaboration that could happen with his office in 2025. And moving into the future.
JOHNSON:
That would be nice. I think everybody would like that. In addition to the policy intel that you picked up during the meeting, you also came away with more information about the minority leaders actual leadership style?
MULLEN:
Yes, so, a really cool opportunity, when you hear staff talk about their boss is, you know, they're all leaders. It's a very complex, chaotic environment on Capitol Hill. And they talked about some of the highlights of working with Jeffries. And they said that he uses precision, precision in the words that he uses precision in how he preps and I've never heard that word actually be used and attributed to a leader. But I do think from a public health perspective, we can take some lessons there. Sometimes in public health, we get so caught up in the nuance and explaining things in a very detailed way that may or may not resonate with the public. But if we actually think about using more precision in the words that we use on a daily basis to move the needle and take some lessons from Jefferies, it might actually be a benefit to the practice of public health. So, I love that word. I'm going to be incorporating it more into my leadership style. And I hope people listening will also think more about it in their day-to-day practice.
JOHNSON:
Carolyn Mullen always a lot of great takeaways, when you come on the newscast. It's good to see you. We hope to have you back more often. And we also hope you have a great weekend.
MULLEN:
Thanks so much.
JOHNSON:
If you're looking for more information on navigating the state legislative session, the National Coalition of STD directors will collaborate with ASTHO for a webinar on May 22. The event will feature a policy 101 perspective, there's a link to sign up in the show notes. Finally, this morning, ASTHO's Emma Talkington, on the takeaways from the annual state environmental health directors meetings.
EMMA TALKINGTON:
You know, we got a lot of great discussion, we got to hear a lot of really interesting projects and activities folks are working on. So yeah, I think we'll continue to build on what we heard this year on a lot of our work coming up and, and also take a lot of ideas back for our meeting in the future.
JOHNSON:
That'll do it for today. We're back on Monday morning with more ASTHO news and information. I'm Summer Johnson. You're listening to the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition. Have a great day.
