878: How To Involve CBOs, HIMSS Global Conference

JANSON SILVERS: 

This is the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition for Friday, April 4, 2025. I'm Janson Silvers. Now, today's news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

NAOMI ADELINE-BIGGS: 

So, the idea was to make sure that we reach communities that we historically don't necessarily reach with our typical approaches that we've used in the past.

SILVERS: 

The Oregon Health Authority's Public Health Division has made a concerted effort to involve community-based organizations in much of the work it does. Naomi Adeline-Biggs says for a long time there was an uneven distribution of the CBOs that receive funding.

ADELINE-BIGGS: 

So, we've made multiple improvements. We've involved local partners in the process, and so, it's going pretty well. In 2024, we managed to fund 194 CBOs,  community-based organizations, in every county in Oregon.

SILVERS: 

Not only is funding CBOs important, but listening to them is just as critical.

ADELINE-BIGGS: 

That's really crucial to us. You know, when you're- when you're serving communities, it's really important to have their voices and make sure that the approaches that we have are responding to the community needs.

SILVERS: 

Biggs says their public health advisory board has two seats specifically reserved for CBOs, and they're doing important work.

ADELINE-BIGGS: 

Right now, they're working on a statewide public health workforce plan, for example. They're also working on a statewide health equity framework. They advise us on these bodies of work. They also discuss how we distribute resources across the state.

SILVERS: 

Learn more about Oregon's partnerships with CBOs when you click on the link in the show notes.

ASTHO member, Dr. Sameer Vohra from Illinois, recently attended the HIMSS Global Health Conference.

SAMEER VOHRA: 

Global leaders from across the world are really thinking about how we can take data, tech, and really build the health solutions for today and tomorrow.

SILVERS: 

Vohra says that the conference offers a little bit of a different perspective to health care.

VOHRA: 

One of the things that you learn pretty quickly at a big health tech conference is that there is so much money and innovation around health care. We don't have the same funding and the same sort of industrial connection to us in public health.

SILVERS: 

Vohra also says ASTHO's presence at the conference was noticed.

VOHRA: 

And ASTHO has been a great leader there, especially through the Public Health Infrastructure Funding [Grant]. To have us as State Health Officials, talk about the connections to building a common health system, one where public health and health care are not separated around data, but really together.

SILVERS: 

More information on the HIMSS Global Health Conference is online now. We will put a link in the show notes.

Also sign up for an ASTHO webinar on April 24, titled, Exploring Successful Academic Health Department Partnerships. Experts from the Public Health Foundation, San Diego State University, and more will speak about crafting successful partnerships with academic institutions. Use the link in the show notes to sign up today.

Finally, this morning, the Virginia Department of Health's Internship Academy is gaining recognition. VDH has been recognized by the Virginia Talent and Opportunity Partnership as a recipient of the 2025 Top Virginia Employer of Interns Award. VDH has received this recognition each year since the Internship Academy began in 2023. More information on the program is in the show notes.

That'll do it for today. We're back on Monday morning with more ASTHO news and information. I'm Janson Silvers. You're listening to the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition. Have a great weekend.