905: PHIG Funding Bolsters Core Capabilities

SUMMER JOHNSON: 

This is the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition for Tuesday, May 13, 2025. I'm Summer Johnson. Now, today's news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

This morning, a PHIG Impact Report. We explore the positive impact of Public Health Infrastructure Grant funding on health departments and the communities they serve. We begin with the Northern Mariana Islands, where Esther Muña, CEO, and territorial health official, discusses how the funding has been used. Muñaexplains that PHIG funding has been crucial for critical investments that were previously out of reach.

ESTHER MUNA: 

This is something new, right? This is something that was- wasn't available, you know? So, it's really- we're so happy that it was given to us so that we can make a new system that will meet the TEFCA requirement, that will make sure that there's data exchange in the right time, and available, you know? So we were able to do that.

JOHNSON: 

The territory uses the funding in specific areas, including staff retention, data modernization, and strengthening the health system. The funds also go to a new electronic health record system.

MUNA: 

So, this is an opportunity for us to get the best, and really it's one of the top three EHRs in the nation. So, we weren't able to do that, and again, making sure that it meets the requirement of TEFCA, and also ensuring that we have proper surveillance, data surveillance. And because we're one organization with public health, a hospital, and behavioral health, we're able to gather all of that information in our system.

JOHNSON: 

This new system has a direct, positive impact on the community by improving data security and enabling more integrated care.

MUNA: 

Especially coming from a small island, we know everybody. We want to make sure that we have that information in there so that we can get to them. And really, you know, push some public health initiatives if they're especially, you know, we don't want them to go back to the hospital. Readmissions is something that is high priority for us to avoid, and we want to be able to have this information available.

JOHNSON: 

Moving to Rhode Island, Department of Health Director Jerry Larkin shares how PHIG funding is helping his department look toward the future and apply lessons learned from recent public health challenges. Larkin emphasizes the value of PHIG funding in both envisioning the future of public health and improving preparedness.

JEROME LARKIN: 

It really does two really important things. One of them is it helps public health departments reimagine, or envision what public health and what public health departments should look like in the next 5, 10, or even 20 years. The second thing it does is it helps us go back to the lessons we've learned from COVID and both understand those lessons and then understand what could have been better about our response and what we need to do to make the response to another epidemic or pandemic more robust.

JOHNSON: 

Larkin describes PHIG as a significant asset for public health over the last few years, enabling departments to make crucial advancements.

LARKIN: 

The important thing to understand about it as an entity is it is making sure a lot of things don't happen, whether it be vaccine-related illnesses, or that a natural disaster is not as severe or doesn't impact people as much as it might.

JOHNSON: 

He goes on to give a recent example.

LARKIN: 

For instance, a recent initiative in the Department of Health at Rhode Island has been the creation of a rental registry to make sure that housing stock that is rented out is lead-safe for children. And our housing stock being an older state, I guess, is relatively old. So, you know, preventing childhood lead intoxication. These are things that don't happen because of public health, and it's easy for people to not be aware of that. And so because of that, it's easy for government entities, legislators, whoever, to not continue to fund these projects because they're preventing things that we don't see on a day to day basis.

JOHNSON: 

Finally, we turn to American Samoa, where Jacki Tulafono, a division head with the Department of Health, explains how PHIG funding has been instrumental in shoring up essential workforce and foundational capacities. Tulafono notes that PHIG funding arrived at a critical time, helping to address vulnerabilities exposed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

JACKI TULAFONO: 

What we learned during the pandemic was that the foundational capacities in public health were not what we needed them to be. In case of not only just normal operations, but also in the case of agencies. We need to be able to work effectively and work quickly. The PHIGI funding that we've received has helped to shore up some of those vulnerabilities in our workforce.

JOHNSON: 

She details how the funding has supported key functions that are vital for the entire department's operation.

TULAFONO: 

We've been able to support not only a workforce director, we've also hired some staff to shore up our personnel division, our finance division, and those are our IT division is a really big area as well, that's supported by PHIG.

JOHNSON: 

This strengthening of core capacities has a direct, positive impact on the community by ensuring that the department can effectively deliver services.

TULAFONO: 

It's not the sexy side of the house, but it's what helps get the services out there in the community. And so, in order for us to get supplies that we need to provide services in the clinic or at the lab or public health emergency response or whatever it may be, we need people that you know, keep the wheels burning and turning, if you will, so that we're able to go out and do the things that we do. We're able to go out and serve the community.

JOHNSON: 

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.