Andy Baker-White, ASTHO senior director for state health policy, is the first member of ASTHO’s state health policy team to be featured in the 'Get To Know ASTHO' segment; Ken Harrison, workforce development director with the Alabama Department of Public Health...
Andy Baker-White, ASTHO senior director for state health policy, is the first member of ASTHO’s state health policy team to be featured in the 'Get To Know ASTHO' segment; Ken Harrison, workforce development director with the Alabama Department of Public Health, explains the Friendly Face Fridays initiative and how it is helping their workforce; an ASTHO blog article focuses on how Hillsborough County, the Florida Department of Health, and the University of South Florida came together to focus on workforce development; and ASTHO's STAR Center offers resources and tools to help state and territorial health agencies modernize and strengthen administrative and organizational capacities.
ASTHO Web Page: State Health Policy
Social Media: Alabama Department of Public Health (Instagram)
ASTHO Blog Article: Academic Health Partnership Prioritizes Workforce Development in Florida
ASTHO Web Page: State and Territorial Administrative Readiness (STAR) Center
SUMMER JOHNSON:
This is the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition for Tuesday, June 10, 2025. I'm Summer Johnson. Now, today's news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.
This morning, we continue with our 'Get to Know ASTHO' segment, where we highlight the work of ASTHO's expert staff. You'll hear what they do, why it's important, and the positive effect on ASTHO's members. Today is our first discussion with the state health policy team. Here's Andy Baker-White, senior director for state health policy.
ANDY BAKER-WHITE:
Our team provides policy and legal expertise for ASTHO members, as well as internally for ASTHO staff. We work a lot with programmatic teams on projects and really bring that policy and legal lens to a whole host of public health issues, whether it's tobacco, maternal and child health, emergency preparedness.
JOHNSON:
Baker-White goes on to explain how the state health policy team works alongside many programmatic areas at ASTHO.
BAKER-WHITE:
We're kind of a cross-cutting team, so we're helping out a lot of different programmatic teams. So, there may be meetings with those teams to help move projects along. There's also receiving and answering technical assistance requests. So, you know, you might get a question from one of our members about perhaps a bill that's been introduced in their state, and they're wanting to know, like, where- where else this type of policy might be in effect. So, we really will dig into that, and, you know, help answer questions for our members so that they can do their job better.
JOHNSON:
Prior to his time at ASTHO...
BAKER-WHITE:
I worked with the Network for Public Health Law. It's an organization that really looks at the way that law can be used to promote and protect public health. That's a sentiment that I really felt like I've also brought over to ASTHO, to help ASTHO members. Before getting really involved in public health law, I worked for a legal aid agency where I provided legal services for low income community members. As part of that role, I really saw the way that law was impacting individuals, and it really made me think about how, you know, law has a bigger role in larger issues.
JOHNSON:
Baker-White shares one way that the team is working to resolve some of these issues impacting territories and freely associated states.
BAKER-WHITE:
One thing that I'm really proud of for this year is we started an Islands Policy Interest Group. So, this is a work group for our island members, and it's really focusing on policy issues that impact those jurisdictions. It brings together folks from the different agencies across the islands and allows them to share ideas, share solutions on issues that are impacting the islands.
JOHNSON:
Baker-White also took the time to look ahead to the rest of 2025.
BAKER-WHITE:
One of the things I'm looking forward to this year is my team also manages a couple of our peer networks. We have a peer network for state and territorial health agency legislative liaisons, as well as for the attorneys that represent health departments. So, we're going to be having in-person meetings with those two groups in June. So, I really look forward to those in-person meetings to actually get to see these folks and watch them as they interact with their colleagues and get to learn from each other, share stories, share solutions, and really work together to promote governmental public health.
JOHNSON:
Hear more from the state health policy team over the next few weeks. Make sure you follow this show wherever you get your podcasts so you never miss an episode, and you can learn more about the work of the state health policy team on ASTHO's website. We have a link in the show notes.
The Alabama Department of Public Health has been hard at work to recruit and retain staff. One initiative is 'Friendly Face Friday,' featuring a different staff member every week. Here's Ken Harrison with the Alabama Department of Public Health.
KEN HARRISON:
We might list some of their daily activities, and they also are asked a series of questions, about three questions, and we like to include those responses. And some of the examples of questions might be, 'How did you get in your current role, or what does your typical day look like? Or what is your favorite part of the job?'
JOHNSON:
Not only does it highlight current workers, but it also engages potential candidates.
HARRISON:
You know, one of the reasons we do this is if you go to an organization's job announcement and pull up a job description, and when you pull up a job description, they're generally very, very vague and don't really tell much about what the day to day activities are or how the work might be meaningful. And that's what we capture on our 'Friendly Face Fridays.'
JOHNSON:
Harrison says the initiative, which has been going on for more than 60 consecutive weeks, has been a success.
HARRISON:
This really helped build our pipeline for our job registers. It also helps in our retention effort. It gives us the opportunity to recognize our great employees and the great work they're doing out there. It also helps us in driving traffic to our job opportunity pages on our website, and it helps to inspire people to come to work for the Alabama Department of Public Health.
JOHNSON:
If you are interested in learning about academic health partnerships, check out a new ASTHO blog. Learn how Hillsborough County, the Florida Department of Health, and the University of South Florida came together to focus on workforce development. Use the link in the show notes to read it today.
Finally, this morning, ASTHO's STAR Center, which stands for State and Territorial Administrative Readiness, offers resources and tools to help state and territorial health agencies modernize and strengthen administrative and organizational capacities. You can use the link in the show notes to access it today.
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.
