PHIG Partners Episodes

On today's PHIG Impact Report, Tmong Udui with the Palau Ministry of Health and Human Services shares how Palau is using PHIG funding to modernize its health data systems.

On today's PHIG Impact Report, Tatiana Lin and Shelby Rowell from the Kansas Health Institute highlight how health departments are using AI to improve efficiency and expand workforce capacity.

On today's PHIG Impact Report, Karla Buru from the South Carolina Department of Public Health discusses the agency’s Supplemental Tuition Assistance Program (STAP), an innovative workforce development initiative designed to support employee development, retention, and leadership.

What does it take to rebuild the foundation of public health in the United States, and why did it take 30 years to get here? Director of the Division of Jurisdictional Support, CDC's Public Health Infrastructure Center, Stacey Mattison Jenkins breaks down the Public Health Infrastructure Grant (PHIG), a $4.6 billion investment reaching more than 100 health departments nationwide.

On today's PHIG Impact Report, Veronika Hanna and Mondi Mason from the Denver Department of Public Health and Environment share how creative workforce strategies powered by the Public Health Infrastructure Grant (PHIG) are opening new pathways into the field.

On today's PHIG Impact Report Ron Bialek from the Public Health Foundation talks about the biggest opportunities ahead for state and local agencies including the use of AI within operations work and performance management systems improvement.

Public health agencies across the country face a growing workforce shortage—but Missouri is tackling the challenge head-on. On today's installment of the PHIG Impact Report, we explore how Missouri internship programs are building a diverse, skilled pipeline of future public health professionals while strengthening partnerships between state and local agencies. Scott Allen, an administrator and health officer of the Webster County Health Unit, shares how hands-on internships are giving students ...

In today's PHIG Impact Report, Esther Ellis, territorial epidemiologist for the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Health, shares how Public Health Infrastructure Grant funding is transforming the territory’s health data systems, and why that matters far beyond technology.

How do public health agencies expand access to mental health support while genuinely engaging the next generation? In this episode, we speak with Heidi Laird and Xavier Foster from the Southern Nevada Health District about two PHIG-funded initiatives designed to do exactly that.

What does it take to strengthen public health systems nationwide and why does flexible funding matter? In this PHIG Impact Report, we’re joined by SzePui Hughes, senior director of public health workforce and infrastructure at ASTHO to unpack the Public Health Infrastructure Grant (PHIG) and ASTHO’s role as a national partner.

In this episode and as part of our PHIG Impact Report series, Amy Perkins of the Wisconsin Department of Health Services talks about how the state is rethinking public health infrastructure funding to make life easier for local and tribal health departments.

In today's PHIG Impact Report, Patricia Tilley, ASTHO member and associate commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, details the critical needs the Public Health Infrastructure Grant has helped address in her state.

Kentucky is experiencing its largest spike in whooping cough cases since 2012, an alarming rise that has already claimed the lives of three infants in the past year. In this episode, Dr. Steven Stack, secretary of Kentucky’s Cabinet for Health and Family Services, joins us to unpack what’s driving the surge, why waning vaccination rates matter, and how misinformation is complicating public health response efforts.

On today's installment of the PHIG Impact Report, we talk with Jenn Rico, data modernization and surveillance & informatics supervisor at the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services. Jenn shares how Montana has used PHIG funding to accelerate statewide data modernization, and invested in leadership, data governance, a new data lake, GIS capacity, and workforce development.

In today's installment of the PHIG Impact Report, Nicole Yerkes, data modernization director with the Utah Department of Health and Human Services, shares how the state is using PHIG funding to advance a unified, future-ready public health data system. She discusses innovations like AI-assisted analysis, real-time lab data exchange, and the power of cross-agency collaboration through Utah's Data Modernization Council. Yerkes also highlights the importance of academic partnerships and sustainable funding to ensure modernization efforts endure and evolve.

Helen Linda, public health workforce development coordinator at the Vermont Department of Health, explains the value of academic health departments and shares how she worked with the Public Health Foundation to assess the current state of her agency’s experiential learning environment; Emman Parian, immunization program manager for the Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation of the Northern Mariana Islands, discusses...

Scott Murakami, PHIG workforce director and principal investigator with the Hawaii State Department of Health, shares how his department is utilizing Public Health Infrastructure Grant funds to support the state’s public health workforce; Melissa Touma, director of the public health infrastructure program at ASTHO, discusses...

Dr. Daniel Edney, state health officer for the Mississippi State Department of Health and ASTHO member, shares how his state declared infant mortality a public health emergency to offer services across the state more rapidly; Bonny Mayes, epidemiologist with the Texas Department of State Health Services, discusses the article she co-authored...

Dr. Gen Meredith, associate professor with the Department of Public and Ecosystem Health at Cornell University, associate director of the Master of Public Health program, and director of Cornell’s Health Impact Score, explains how their new Public Health Strategic Skills Guide can help professionals in public health navigate changes to their roles and build upon their existing skill sets; Nick Jakubowski, chief operating officer at the Connecticut Department of Public Health, shares how his agency used PHIG funding...

In today's installment of the PHIG Impact Report, Celeste Jorge, epidemiologist and evaluator with the Connecticut Department of Public Health, discusses how her department is using the Public Health Infrastructure Grant.

Catherine Jones, senior analyst of government affairs at ASTHO, breaks down what states need to know about the application for the Rural Health Transformation Program, and discusses ASTHO’s recent partnership with Cornerstone Government Affairs to host two expert panels on the subject; Dr. Lena Heilmann, director of the Colorado Office of Suicide Prevention with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment,...