Halina Palacios, chief operations officer for population health at the Commonwealth Health Care Corporation in the territory of the Northern Mariana Islands, discusses a recent population health summit specifically for Pacific public health teams; Carolyn Mullen, ASTHO’s senior vice president of government affairs and public relations, breaks down how the potential government shutdown could impact access to public health funds...
Halina Palacios, chief operations officer for population health at the Commonwealth Health Care Corporation in the territory of the Northern Mariana Islands, discusses a recent population health summit specifically for Pacific public health teams; Carolyn Mullen, ASTHO’s senior vice president of government affairs and public relations, breaks down how the potential government shutdown could impact access to public health funds in this week’s View From Washington, D.C. report; a new ASTHO Health Policy Update focused on primary care offices explores new strategies for data-sharing; and a new learning series on the United States Territories and Freely Associated States is now open for enrollment on ASTHO’s website.
ASTHO Blog Article: Population Health Summit Strengthens Pacific Partnership
ASTHO Health Policy Update: Data-Sharing Strategies to Support Access to Care Interventions
ASTHO Health Policy Update: Data-Sharing Strategies to Support Access to Care Interventions
JANSON SILVERS:
This is the 999th episode of the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition for Friday, September 26, 2025. I'm Janson Silvers. Now, today's news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.
PALACIOS:
The Population Health Summit was a combination of two and a half days with experts from all over the Pacific, and it focused on topic areas on clinical health, mental health, and public health.
SILVERS:
Earlier this year, the leadership team at the Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation of the Northern Mariana Islands worked to put together a Population Health Summit specifically for the Pacific public health teams. Halina Palacios was a key architect.
PALACIOS:
We wanted to bring people who were experiencing everything that we were, who were maybe experiencing it in a different wave or a different pace and hear their stories and really have a table that we didn't have to travel 36 hours to go to.
SILVERS:
One of a Palacios' highlights was a discussion on men's health.
PALACIOS:
So, we had a stage of not just men from the Marianas, but across the Pacific sharing their journey of taking ownership and accountability of their health, and what that meant, as far as taking a leap of faith, but also being planted as a foundation for other men to take accountability and strengthen their health in the Pacific.
SILVERS:
Already, Palacios and her team are planning for the next event.
PALACIOS:
We need to see what the health of each of our systems look like, what the health of our region looks like, and really what the trends are for the nation as well. So, we are looking at another health summit in two years, and hopefully this builds a momentum where it's a torch that can be passed across the Pacific.
SILVERS:
ASTHO has a blog article that details the process of how the summit came together and what it meant to the region. Read more when you click the link in the show notes.
Next week marks the end of September and the deadline for Congress to pass a funding resolution to avoid a government shutdown. ASTHO's government affairs team has been closely monitoring changes to the situation here in DC and today, Carolyn Mullen joins us to break down how a shutdown could impact ASTHO members and their jurisdictions in this week's View from Washington, D.C. report.
Hello Carolyn, happy Friday. It's been a long week, maybe a long month. I know you're busy.
MULLEN:
Hi, happy Friday. Yes, very, very much so.
SILVERS:
We know that your department is busy. As the clock ticks closer to October, which is the end of the fiscal year, what do you think will happen with this government shutdown?
MULLEN:
So, an important development happened this week, and that was that President Trump actually canceled a meeting that was supposed to take place with the Democratic leaders, both Schumer and Jeffries. During that meeting, there was supposed to be a negotiation about how to keep the government open, and President Trump indicated that he is not willing to negotiate at this moment in time. The other development was last week the House Republicans approved a short-term continuing resolution, funding the federal government through November 21. That legislation is currently pending in the Senate. Congress has been out in recess this entire week, and so, when they come back, the Senate comes back on Monday, they will vote on that short-term CR. Any piece of legislation that passes must be bipartisan, so you need to have that Democratic support. And it is really unclear whether the Democrats will vote to move this legislation forward. If they do not approve this short term CR that has already passed the House, we will be headed for a government shutdown.
SILVERS:
And on the chance that that happens, what do ASTHO members need to know?
MULLEN:
They need to know that contingency plans will be posted on HHS' website about 24 to 48 hours in advance of a shutdown. I've seen a lot of media reporting recently, sort of calling President Trump's administration to task and being really critical that these contingency plans haven't been posted yet, but that's not fair. In any administration, these documents typically don't get posted until right before a shutdown, so we will be looking at those documents very closely. They will really articulate what will be deemed essential and what won't be in a shutdown. And that will provide our members, the state and territorial health officials, with some information on- to guide them and their activities as we navigate a shutdown. We've never been through a shutdown with this current administration. We are anticipating it could be unlike other shutdowns, particularly as it relates to the Payment Management System. So, that's the system where our members use to draw down federal funds to pay for programs, projects, and activities. The concern I have is there are a lot of new things embedded in the system, such as Defend the Spend and some DOGE reviews, and we've never tested those new systems before. So what does it mean if the government shuts down and if our members have a problem with drawing down funds? Will there be someone to contact? Will there be anyone on the other line to help navigate any challenges our members would have?So, we're keeping a watchful eye on those contingency plans, and we'll be looking closely for details on the Payment Management System specifically.
SILVERS:
Wonderful. We appreciate your time, Carolyn. Thank you so much.
MULLEN:
You're welcome. Have a great day.
SILVERS:
ASTHO has a new Health Policy Update out on workforce data. This one focused on primary care offices. ASTHO's Health Policy Update explores several strategies underway. You can access it on ASTHO's website or by using the link in the show notes.
Finally, a new ASTHO Learning Series on the United States territories and freely associated states is available online now. The nine-part training will help participants better understand the unique characteristics of the U.S. Island jurisdictions through a public health lens. You can enroll in the series now by visiting ASTHO's e-Learning Center or just visit the show notes. We'll have a link right to it.
That'll do it for today. We're back on Monday 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 weekend.
Halina S. Palacios MPH
Chief Operations Officer, Population Health, Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation