Dr. Scott Harris, ASTHO president and state health officer with the Alabama Department of Public Health, discusses takeaways from the most recent ASTHO Board of Directors meeting; Alex Kurutz, dialysis epidemiologist for the Healthcare Associated Infections and Antimicrobial Resistance Program at the Tennessee Department of Health...
Dr. Scott Harris, ASTHO president and state health officer with the Alabama Department of Public Health, discusses takeaways from the most recent ASTHO Board of Directors meeting; Alex Kurutz, dialysis epidemiologist for the Healthcare Associated Infections and Antimicrobial Resistance Program at the Tennessee Department of Health, shares how the state created an educational program to help dialysis facilities strengthen infection prevention; Dr. Manisha Juthani, ASTHO’s president-elect, and Anne Zink, ASTHO’s past president, served on a panel at the Yale Innovation Summit to discuss how state and local leaders can advance public health and health innovation in today’s political landscape; and stay up to date on all things public health by subscribing to this newscast.
ASTHO Web Page: Board of Directors
ASTHO Blog: Tennessee Partners with Dialysis Facilities to Strengthen Infection Prevention
Yale School of Public Health: Public health needs to find its way through “the in-between”
ASTHO Web Page: Subscribe to Public Health Review Morning Edition
JANSON SILVERS:
This is the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition for Monday, June 23, 2025. I'm Janson Silvers. Now, today's news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.
SCOTT HARRIS:
ASTHO provides all these other wonderful benefits to state health agencies, but one of the best parts is just getting to know people who have the same job as you, and the board meeting is a great time to do that.
SILVERS:
That's ASTHO President, Dr. Scott Harris, state health officer with the Alabama Department of Public Health. ASTHO's Board of Directors recently met to explore how the organization can best serve members amid recent changes to public health legislation.
HARRIS:
We deliberately built in unscheduled time so that we would be able to hash those issues out. And it was actually really great, open frank conversation. We got to hear a variety of perspectives from red states and blue states and purple states, so that we can understand where ASTHO needs to go as an organization.
SILVERS:
Harris shares the pivotal role he believes ASTHO plays in public health.
HARRIS:
The real institutional knowledge about how state health officers should do their job and how the state health department works doesn't actually reside with people who are in that job right now, most of the time. It resides at ASTHO; people who are public health professionals, who've been working with states for many years, sometimes decades, that's really their repository of information that we all find really helpful.
SILVERS:
Harris says the board worked collaboratively on strategies for the path forward.
HARRIS:
I think what really makes our organization great is that really, by and large, there's a 100% agreement on what science says about what good public health says. You know, there's no real argument about what our mission is and about what we do and what we believe and what we stand for.
SILVERS:
Learn more about ASTHO's Board of Directors by clicking the link in the show notes.
The Tennessee Department of Health has created an educational program to help dialysis facilities across the state strengthen infection prevention. Here's Alex Kurutz with the Tennessee Department of Health.
ALEX KURUTZ:
We found that there was a want by dialysis professionals for additional infection prevention training, and that Tennessee dialysis staff had actually the highest interest in learning about healthcare-associated infections.
SILVERS:
Kurutz says the CDC's Making Dialysis Safer for Patients Coalition helped the state identify topics they may want to focus on.
KURUTZ:
The example that always comes to mind is a webinar we attended that focused on dialysis infection prevention in the non-traditional setting, which included one state discussing their focus on dialysis in prisons.
SILVERS:
To other health departments looking to implement similar programs, Kurutz advises leaning into collaboration.
KURUTZ:
Being able to collaborate and have open communication with your state's dialysis facilities will really help benefit your team as you create your training program. We found that through this process, being able to discuss the program with facilities and have that ongoing opportunity for feedback helps us continue to ensure the program focuses on the needs of the dialysis healthcare professionals in Tennessee.
SILVERS:
For more information, check out the ASTHO blog article about the program by using the link in the show notes.
Also, ASTHO's, President-Elect, Dr. Manisha Juthani, and ASTHO's Past President [Dr.] Anne Zink, will both serve as panelists for 'Navigating change: How states are responding to a shifting federal health landscape,' at the Yale Innovation Summit.The panel explores how state and local leaders are navigating today's policy landscape to advance public health and health innovation. There's more information in the show notes.
Finally, make sure you follow the show wherever you get your podcasts. This newscast keeps you up to date on all things public health each and every morning, bright and early, at 5 a.m. Eastern Time. It's the perfect way to start your day.
That'll do it for today. We're back tomorrow 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 day.
Scott Harris MD MPH FACP FIDSA
ASTHO President and State Health Officer, Alabama Department of Public Health
Alex Kurutz MPH
Dialysis Epidemiologist, Healthcare-Associated Infections and Antimicrobial Resistance Program, Tennessee Deptartment of Health