Public Health Workforce Episodes

Feb. 12, 2024

599: Why Patients Don’t Want a COVID Vaccine, Policies to Help Young Families

Dr. Danielle Ofri, Clinical Professor of Medicine at New York University School of Medicine, tells us some patients still have concerns about COVID-19 vaccines; Jessica Bissett, ASTHO Senior Analyst for Social and Behavioral Health, discusses several...
Feb. 7, 2024

596: Environmental Health Careers, Providers Don’t Feel Equipped to Treat Harmful Algal Blooms

Larry Michael, State Environmental Health Director at the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, tells us about the many public health careers available to people interested in science and public service; Marissa Vigar, Health...
Jan. 23, 2024

585: 2024 Legislative Agenda Looks Familiar, Learn Trauma-Responsive Leadership

Andy Baker-White, ASTHO Senior Director for State Health Policy, previews the state of the legislative calendar this year; Omar Khalid, ASTHO Director of Workforce Development, says leaders can support their teams by adopting a trauma-responsive...
Jan. 9, 2024

576: State Health Assessments Inform Planning, How to Access Public Health Databases

Dr. Edward Simmer, director of the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, dives deep into a new state health assessment; Melissa Touma, ASTHO’s director of the Public Health Infrastructure Program, tells us how Colorado used...
Dec. 15, 2023

565: Oregon’s Psilocybin Therapy Program, New Focus on Perinatal Substance Use

Cara Biddlecom, interim state health official at the Oregon Health Authority Public Health Division, talks about the launch of the first-ever state-sponsored psilocybin therapy program; Amani Echols, policy and government affairs manager for the...
Dec. 11, 2023

561: ASTHO’s 2024 Legislative Overview Starts Today, Holiday Campaign Offers Treatment Message

Dr. Lindsay Weaver, state health commissioner for the Indiana Department of Health, discusses the state’s campaign to increase investment in public health; Dr. Ralph Alvarado, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Public Health, explains how...
Dec. 6, 2023

558: A Call to Expand Naloxone Availability, Policies to Solve Maternity Care Deserts

ASTHO President and Kentucky Health Commissioner Dr. Steven Stack says easier access to naloxone could help prevent many overdose deaths; former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams says naloxone should be as easy to find as AED devices that prevent...
Dec. 4, 2023

556: New Suicide Prevention Policy Statement, Testing Could Curb Newborn Syphilis Cases

Dr. Mark Levine, commissioner, Vermont Department of Health, says ASTHO’s new policy statement on suicide prevention offers many recommendations including a call to improve access to health care services for those at highest risk; Dr. Robert...
Nov. 22, 2023

550: Data Exchange Network Explained, Tribal Liaisons Build Connections

J.T. Lane, ASTHO senior vice president for Population Health and Innovation, discusses the impacts of the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement; Catherine Jones, senior analyst for Government Affairs, looks at new congressional deadlines to...
Nov. 14, 2023

544: New ASTHO Resource Center, How to Build External Trust

Brian Lentes, senior director of Public Health Infrastructure, ASTHO, discusses the supports offered by the ASTHO STAR Center; Stephen Covey, a well-known author, says leaders first need to build trust within the public health agency before expanding...
Oct. 18, 2023

526: Youth Substance Use Interventions, PH Jobs Website Attracts Candidates

Dr. Sarah Stoddard, a member of the Community Preventive Services Task Force with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, says the organization reviewed 60 studies to determine what can help prevent substance use among young people; Dr....
Oct. 13, 2023

523: Making Decisions During a Crisis, PH Help Wanted

ASTHO CEO Dr. Mike Fraser and Dr. Ray Barishansky, Former Deputy Secretary for Health Preparedness and Community Protection at the Pennsylvania Department of Health, explain new research on barriers to decision making in public health response; Dr....
Sept. 27, 2023

512: Court Cases Impacting Public Health, Helping PH Managers

Christina Severin, ASTHO’s Director of Public Health Law, outlines upcoming Supreme Court cases that will impact public health; Susan Donnelly, Workforce Director at the Oklahoma State Department of Health, shares the work her team is doing to...
Sept. 14, 2023

503: Michigan’s Behavioral Health Budget, Better Data to Address Childhood Lead Poisoning

Elizabeth Hertel, Director of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, says a new budget for the state expands resident’s access to behavioral health services; Taffany Huang, Nurse Consultant Specialist for the State of California...
Sept. 8, 2023

499: Equity Strategies Cohort Forming, Federal Shutdown Looms

Jessica Fepelstein, ASTHO Analyst of State and Community Engagement, explains the work the ASTHO Strategies to Repair Equity and Transform Community Health (STRETCH) Initiative is doing to promote health equity; Carolyn Mullen, ASTHO Senior Vice...
Aug. 23, 2023

488: PH Workforce Consortium, Maternal Health Disparities

JP Leider, Director of the Center for Public Health Systems at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, explains the importance of the Consortium for Workforce Research and Public Health; Nancy Scotto Rosato, Assistant Commissioner of...
Aug. 22, 2023

487: AI in Public Health, Hurricane Environmental Health Surveillance

Dr. Kris Mork, Director of Public Health Informatics at Guidehouse, says the development of AI needs to be inclusive; Heidi Bojes, Director of the Environmental Epidemiology and Disease Registry at the Texas Department of State Health Services,...
Aug. 9, 2023

478: Mapping Opioid Response, Managing FTE Caps

Maggie Davis, ASTHO Director of State Health Policy, outlines ASTHO’s new Public Health Legal Mapping Center tool aimed to highlight policies that may prevent overdose; Liljana Baddour, ASTHO’s Senior Director for Workforce Development, says...
Aug. 8, 2023

477: PH-HERO Set to Grow, Dialysis Patient Voices

Omar Khalid, ASTHO’s Director of Workforce Development, explains the expansion of ASTHO’s Public Health – Hope, Equity, Resilience, and Opportunity (PH-HERO) initiative; Erin Laird, ASTHO’s Director of Emerging Infections, says preventing...
Aug. 2, 2023

473:  Rethinking Rural Immunization Strategies, Expanding Mental Health Coverage

Melissa Magstadt, Cabinet Secretary for the South Dakota Department of Health, says healthcare must meet patients where they live; Ali Maffey, ASTHO’s Vice President of Social and Behavioral Health, explains approaches to making mental healthcare...
July 25, 2023

467: ASTHO Releases Authority Policy Statement, CDC Kicks Off School Vaccination Campaign

Andy Baker-White, ASTHO’s Senior Director of State Health Policy, outlines three new policy recommendations on Public Health Legal Authority; Dr. Georgina Peacock, the Director of the Immunization Services Division in the National Center for...
July 24, 2023

466: New Workforce Recommendations, Community Health Worker Policy Discussion

Omar Khalid, ASTHO’s Director of Workforce, explains new strategies for enhancing workforce well-being and retention; Brianna Gorman, ASTHO’s Clinical to Community Connections team member, says community health workers are a key connection between...
July 19, 2023

463: Tracking West Nile Virus, Funding Doula Care

Dr. Catherine Brown, State Epidemiologist at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, explains how Massachusetts is addressing West Nile Virus found in the state; Jennifer Lee, Director of the Bureau of Tobacco Control at the New York State...
July 13, 2023

459: LGBTQ+ Youth Health Disparities, Syphilis Cases Jump in Minnesota

Robin Matthies, ASTHO’s Director of Social and Behavioral Health, discusses the disparities facing LGBTQ+ youth, which is the topic in an upcoming ASTHO webinar; Christine Jones, Assistant Manager of the STD and HIV Section at the Minnesota...