929: PHIG Funding for PH Workforce

SUMMER JOHNSON: This is the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition for Tuesday, June 17, 2025. I'm Summer Johnson. Now, today's news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. Today, we bring you the PHIG Impact Report. Twice a month on this newscast, we have a segment that showcases the Public Health Infrastructure Grant, otherwise known as PHIG, including how your colleagues across the nation are using it and how it's impacting the U.S. public health system. This morning, we hear from Dr. Jim McDonald, commissioner of the New York State Department of Health. Dr. McDonald, can you take us through how your health department used PHIG to support your workforce and data modernization efforts? JAMES MCDONALD: We got the Public Health Infrastructure Grant really just towards the end of the pandemic. It was really a tall glass of water to someone who'd been wandering in the desert for so long. And really, there were so many ways it affected us. Like, one way [it] did, it was with our state public health lab, Wadsworth, you know, we did some workforce development, we improved our information technology. We improved our data exchange with other public health laboratories. That wasn't the only way. Another way we used it was with our own Office of Public Health. We were able to increase the size of the public health workforce. And, you know, New York's a big state, you know, got some rural areas. We're able to put people in all different parts of the state just to look for emerging public health threats. That was important, too. But that wasn't all. And our Office of Science was able to hire more epidemiologists, more data analysts. We count a lot at the New York State Department Health, so it's great to have more people who count things. JOHNSON: We'd love to hear some of the lessons you've learned throughout the process. MCDONALD: One of the big things that we learned was just we were able to change our onboarding process of the New York State Department Health and actually get people to onboard in a way that's very thoughtful, deliberate and intelligent, and also do some work in retaining our skilled public health board. So, not just onboarding, but retention work as well. But I think one of the biggest improvements we did was just improve our partnerships with local health departments. The pandemic was rough on everybody, but really, I saw our relationships when I took over as commissioner with local health departments, [and] they weren't what they should be. And one of the things the Public Health Infrastructure Grant did was get back to us collaborating with local health departments, which we love to do, working [a]cross all the lines there, not just quarterly town halls, not just our staff, talking to their staff, but actually doing conferences together, having meetings together. And one of the big things that came out of this was just understanding. Like one of the things local health departments which they wanted, which was really, really reasonable, was just, could you please tell us what's going on before you let the public know? And that was lost during the pandemic, but it's something we were able to bring back. But the Public Health Infrastructure Grant, I think about it as people and relationships, because we had the resources, we're able to invest in people, invest in relationships, and that's the engine that drives public health. JOHNSON: Are there any notable outcomes you attribute to PHIG? MCDONALD: One was establishing this Pathways to Public Health internship program. It was great to bring on summer and fall internships. Like one of the things I think is so important for young people is exposure to different professions. Quite frankly, most people don't know what people do in public health. There's no reason why they should do that. So, internships are just one of those things, but there was other big investments, too. Part of it was just getting so much of this money to local health departments. 40% of our money went to public health infrastructure in local health departments. This allowed local health departments to be rebuilt after the pandemic. So, I think that was really a big thing. One of the big things we did, too, though, out of our Office of Science, though, was data-driven dashboards. You know, using grant resources, the Department of Health built 319 different dashboards that visualize important indicators like preventive prevalence of illness, overdose trends, maternal health disparities, and a whole lot more. And you know, I love data. I often say data diffuses dissension. In public health, we really don't care about the politics. We do care about data, though, because once the data is presented in objective, honest, scientific fashion, it sometimes speaks for itself. And I think that's a beautiful thing. JOHNSON: We can't talk about all that PHIG has helped you accomplish without talking about the importance of sustainable public health funding. MCDONALD: Sustainable funding is really important. One of the things about this grant that was so cool was it was five years of funding right up front, so you didn't have to wonder if you're going to get an extension every year, or what was going to happen. And that was really critical, because when you get five years of funding upfront, and a lot of funding, you can plan. The other thing was, we could partner with other people who got the funding. Since so many people got this funding, it was really helpful. Like, we could partner with the City Health Department, because they had the same grant. And it really gets to this issue of when people have real resources, you can make real good progress and do it real quickly. JOHNSON: We always appreciate your time, Dr. McDonald. You can learn about the Public Health Infrastructure Grant and the work that's underway by visiting the PHIG website. We have a link right to it 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.