What do school meals, housing, paid leave, and pre-K have to do with public health? According to Trust for America’s Health: everything. In this episode, Breanca Merritt, director of policy at Trust for America’s Health, breaks down a new report titled 'Promoting Health and Cost Control in States (…
Two very different challenges, and one shared public health reality: systems have to work when it matters most. In this episode, we speak with Dr. Erica Pan, director and state public health officer for the California Department of Public Health, and ASTHO member, about a rare and unprecedented inf…
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.
Community health workers (CHWs) play a critical role in bridging the gap between health systems and the communities they serve, especially in rural and underserved areas. In this episode, ASTHO Senior Director of Population Health, Alex Kearly, explains who CHWs are, how they build trust and addres…
For the first time, all eight U.S. territories and freely associated states have been included in PH-WINS, or the Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Survey. Rachel Hare Bork joins the show to discuss how this landmark pilot effort came together, why it took extensive travel and collaborati…
As health departments modernize their data systems, an unexpected challenge has emerged: traditional public health job classifications no longer match the reality of today’s data landscape. In this episode, Ari Whiteman, ASTHO’s senior advisor for public health data and informatics workforce, talks…
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.
In this episode, ASTHO’s Catherine Jones, senior analyst for government affairs, breaks down the 2025 federal government shutdown, the longest in U.S. history, and what made it uniquely disruptive compared to the 2018–2019 closure.
ASTHO's Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Susan Kansagra, joins us for a candid conversation about the state of public health today. She reflects on her unexpected path into the field, the urgent need to rebuild public trust, and why communicating the everyday value of public health is more critical than …
In this episode, health leaders from Iowa, Maine and Mississippi share their strategies for revitalizing rural healthcare. We hear excerpts from an ASTHO media briefing featuring ASTHO members as they address the urgent challenges facing millions of rural Americans, including healthcare provider sh…
Dr. Manisha Juthani, commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Public Health, joins the show for the first time as ASTHO’s president to discuss her plans for the new term; Dr. Karen Hacker, health policy fellow at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health, co-authored an article...
In today's installment of the PHIG Impact Report, Amy Ferris, chief financial officer at the Washington State Department of Health, shares how her department is using the Public Health Infrastructure Grant to centralize its grant management system.
In this special episode of Public Health Review Morning Edition, Eric Whitworth, CEO of InductiveHealth, discusses the importance of scalable data surveillance systems and how taking a broader approach to modernization can benefit health departments.
Alfredo Ramirez, director of the Operation Analysis Office at the Tennessee Department of Health, explains how his department expanded its contract tracking system to enhance efficiency and manage grants across their life cycle; Kellie Waugh, analyst for health improvement and healthy aging at ASTH…
In this special episode of Public Health Review Morning Edition, Julie Sullivan, principal at BerryDunn, discusses how public health agencies can partner with Medicaid to share data and obtain needed resources while saving funds.
Dr. Joseph Kanter, CEO of ASTHO, joined Dr. J. Nadine Gracia, president and CEO of Trust for America’s Health (TFAH), Rhea Farberman, director of strategic communications and policy at TFAH, and Lori Freeman, CEO of NACCHO, during a recent briefing about TFAH’s report that details the impact of CDC…
In today's installment of the PHIG Impact Report, Dr. Edward Simmer, ASTHO member and the interim director of the South Carolina Department of Public Health, discusses how his department is using the Public Health Infrastructure Grant.
Marissa Eyanson, director of behavioral health for the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, shares how her department is breaking down silos between its behavioral health and disability service systems to make it easier for Iowans to access care; Dr. Paul Petersen, director of the emergenc…
Dr. Lindsay Weaver, ASTHO member and the state health commissioner for the Indiana Department of Health, discusses how her state is using the Public Health Infrastructure Grant in today's PHIG Impact Report.
In today's installment of the PHIG Impact Report, Dr. Brooke Cunningham, ASTHO member and the commissioner of health for the Minnesota Department of Health, discusses how her department is using the Public Health Infrastructure Grant.
Kathy Jorgensen, board member for the National Alliance of State Animal and Agricultural Emergency Programs, explains why it’s essential to account for animals in all emergency planning; Jeffrey Ekoma, senior director of government affairs at ASTHO, discusses HHS nominations, rescissions, and more.…
Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, ASTHO member and chief medical executive for the State of Michigan, explains how Michigan’s multifaceted approach has reduced overdose deaths across the state; Heidi Westermann, director of public health data modernization and informatics at ASTHO...
In today's PHIG Impact Report, Dr. Robert Goldstein, ASTHO member and the commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, takes us through how his department is using the Public Health Infrastructure Grant.
Dr. Joseph Kanter, ASTHO CEO, shares how ASTHO will use the Public Health Workforce Interest and Needs Survey (PH WINS) to guide national public health priorities; Emma Pliskin, research scientist at Child Trends, shares what their new study reveals about trends in STI testing...
