814: Safe States Alliance Leader Retires, VRHS Reaccreditation

SUMMER JOHNSON: 

This is the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition for Thursday, December 19, 2024. I'm Summer Johnson. Now, today's news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

RICH HAMBURG: 

Fighting for the nation's health has always been in my blood, a more direct commitment to injury and violence prevention began over a dozen years ago with involvement in the development of a pair of injury and violence prevention reports.

JOHNSON: 

Rich Hamburg has been the executive director of the Safe States Alliance for nearly seven years, and at the end of 2024 he'll retire. Hamburg tells us a little about the work of the Safe States Alliance.

HAMBURG: 

Our mission is to elevate injury and violence prevention as a national priority. We serve our members, and we serve the field in providing technical assistance, thought leadership, advocacy opportunities. You know, everything that we can do to not only build our workforce, but provide the tools that they need to do their jobs most effectively.

JOHNSON: 

As he nears the end of his career, he reflects on public health and how to move forward.

HAMBURG: 

We really need to do a better job in communicating our stories, presenting simple strategies and statistics, and the return on investment.

JOHNSON: 

Hamburg adds that we must always keep doing the public good.

HAMBURG: 

My hope is that that continues to be the case, and that our policymakers at all levels have a greater understanding of you know, what community health needs, what you know, raising the tide for all of our population, 'What does that take?'

JOHNSON: 

Learn more about Hamburg's retirement in a news release that's online now. You can find that in the show notes.

The Public Health Accreditation Board, or PHAB, has announced the launch of the re-accreditation program for Vital Records and Health Statistics, also called VRHS. Marita Chilton is with PHAB.

MARITA CHILTON: 

It's administered by the Public Health Accreditation Board, or PHAB, and it ensures that VRHS units are adhering to high quality accuracy and reliable data collection and reporting.

JOHNSON: 

Chilton details the process.

CHILTON: 

VRHS accreditation is a peer review process where experts from the field evaluate the VRHS unit against a set of national standards similar to National Health Department accreditation, the development and revision of the standards are field-driven and reflect both the aspirations of the field as well as important and emerging issues.

JOHNSON: 

Chilton adds that vital records are important data when it comes to public health.

CHILTON: 

These vital records data often remain in the background of public health discussions, yet they serve a huge role in making crucial health decisions and policies. Reliable data underpins public health research, guiding policies to address issues such as chronic disease, maternal health, and infectious disease outbreaks.

JOHNSON: 

Read a full announcement on VRHS re-accreditation by clicking the link in the show notes.

If you want to learn how you and your team can work across agencies to maximize investments in the social determinants of health, you may want to check out a recent episode of the Public Health Review podcast. Listen to experts from HHS, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, and Federal Transit Administration. The link to listen is in the show notes.

Finally, make sure you stay up-to-date on the latest news in public health ASTHO's Public Health Newsletter is the perfect compliment to this newscast. You can sign up by using the link in the show notes.

That'll do it for today. We're back tomorrow 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.