Dr. Dan Edney, ASTHO member and state health officer with the Mississippi Department of Health, explains what the state is doing to meet the public health needs of rural communities across the state; Shirley Orr, executive director for the Association of Public Health Nurses...
Dr. Dan Edney, ASTHO member and state health officer with the Mississippi Department of Health, explains what the state is doing to meet the public health needs of rural communities across the state; Shirley Orr, executive director for the Association of Public Health Nurses and lead speaker of ASTHO’s new Public Health Nursing Workforce Learning Lab series, discusses what may motivate nurses to choose the public health field; on Thursday, September 11, ASTHO will hold the first session of the Activate series, the third installment of its Ignite, Accelerate, and Activate workshop, on building emotional intelligence skills; and ASTHO welcomes new member Dr. Lawrence Greenblatt, state health director and chief medical officer for the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.
Mississippi State Department of Health: Rural Health and Population Studies
ASTHO Webinar: Public Health Nursing Workforce Learning Lab
JANSON SILVERS:
This is the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition for Thursday, August 21, 2025. I'm Janson Silvers. Now, today's news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.
DANIEL EDNEY:
The majority of Mississippians live in rural areas, and so, rural health is critically important.
SILVERS:
The Mississippi Department of Public Health is working to protect the health of its rural citizens through critical studies and public health programming. Dr. Dan Edney, ASTHO member and state health officer with the Mississippi Department of Health, tells us what the state is doing to ensure community needs are met across every county in the state.
EDNEY:
We have our new center, the Mississippi Center for Rural Health and Population Health Studies, and within that, we have the Office of State Health Policy and Planning, whose total job is to study healthcare comprehensively in our state.
SILVERS:
Mississippi is set to receive the Rural Health Transformation Grant in 2026 through the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services.
EDNEY:
Now, we have some shovel-ready projects that have funding, things that we've been studying the last three years and projected solutions, but funding not being available, now, we have funding to look at, hopefully operationalizing some of these things.
SILVERS:
Edney says federal partnerships are needed to empower Mississippi to serve its people.
EDNEY:
Public health policy and the agenda of public health in Mississippi cannot be dictated from Washington or Atlanta. We have to decide that here in Mississippi, but we need to absolutely do it in partnership with the CDC, HRSA, SAMHSA, CMS. We can't, we can't do it alone, but I do say that we need to be in the driver's seat.
SILVERS:
To learn more about Mississippi's approach, check out the link in the show notes.
A new ASTHO Learning Lab Series will bring together public health nurses to explore ways to strengthen the nursing workforce in the field. Shirley Orr, executive director for the Association of Public Health Nurses, who will lead the series, shares what may motivate nurses to pursue careers in public health.
SHIRLEY ORR:
We know that public health nurses often stay because they love the work, and particularly, if there is some flexibility, if they're able to have some autonomy in their role and some discretion in terms of how they perform their work, some flexibility in scheduling, that sort of thing, really helped to increase their satisfaction with their job.
SILVERS:
Orr says public health's mission is often a key factor for those interested in the field.
ORR:
The roots of Public Health Nursing are really deeply embedded in social justice. Nurses that want to work toward bringing communities to their optimal state of health often are drawn to that work.
SILVERS:
For nurses who may not have been exposed to public health in their formal education, Orr says certifications can play a role.
ORR:
We're working along with the National Board of Public Health Edxaminers to establish a new public health nursing certification process, and just having that process and providing some study groups and resources is something that we believe will really help those newer nurses to become more confident in their roles and feel that they're more able to serve their communities.
SILVERS:
You can learn more about the Public Health Nursing Workforce Learning Lab Series on ASTHO's website. We have a link in the show notes.
Also, on Thursday, September 11, ASTHO will hold the first session of the Activate series, the third installment of its Ignite, Accelerate, and Activate workshop. This session will focus on building emotional intelligence skills to become a more self- aware and empathetic leader. Click on the link in the show notes to register for the event.
Finally, in ASTHO membership news, ASTHO extends a warm welcome to new member, Dr. Lawrence Greenblatt, state health director and chief medical officer for the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. Greenblatt is recognized for his dedication to delivering high-quality care for medically and socially complex patients.
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.
