1133: PHIG Impact Report: Inside America’s $4.6 Billion Infrastructure Investment

JOHN SHEEHAN:

This is Public Health Review Morning Edition for Tuesday, May 26, 2026. I'm John Sheehan with news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

On today's PHIG Impact Report, 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? Stacey Mattison Jenkins, the director of the Division of Jurisdictional Support at CDC's Public Health Infrastructure Center, breaks down PHIG, the Public Health Infrastructure Grant, a $4.6 billion investment reaching more than 100 health departments nationwide. She'll explain how PHIG is funding workforce expansion, modern data systems, and the everyday capabilities that keep communities safe.

Stacey Mattison Jenkins, welcome to the show.

STACEY MATTISON JENKINS:

Thank you. Pleasure to be here.

SHEEHAN:

So, Stacey, from CDC's perspective, why is the Public Health Infrastructure Grant such a significant investment?

MATTISON JENKINS:

PHIG is CDC's largest investment specifically in public health infrastructure. It provides more than $4.6 billion directly to 107 health department recipients across the country and has been doing so since 2022. PHIG strengthens core public health functions, including workforce, modern data systems, and nationally recognized foundational public health services, while it allows those funded jurisdictions to tailor their investments to meet their local needs. And so, these investments are already transforming the public health system, improving disease surveillance, expanding workforce pipelines, and enhancing everyday preparedness and response activities. You know, it's a well-known fact that public health infrastructure is not a new concept per se, but the grant was made possible by having a direct budget funding line to specifically address public health infrastructure and gaps and needs in our country. So, it actually took us about 30 years to get to this point, which is very significant for CDC and public health in general.

SHEEHAN:

And Stacey, can I ask you about one of those investments, specifically the grant's investment in workforce? How does it strengthen the public health workforce?

MATTISON JENKINS:

So, what many people may not know is that public health departments have been dealing with a major staffing gap of about 80,000 workers nationwide, which has made it hard to keep up with essential services that they provided. This was exacerbated, of course, by the COVID pandemic. So, PHIG has put $3 billion directly into rebuilding the public health workforce, giving health departments the people they need to do these critical jobs. So, the jurisdictions that we funded have already filled nearly 9,000 public health positions using PHIG investments. And so, these investments are filled by real people performing real jobs that Americans rely on every day. And I'd like to share a good example from Tarrant County, Texas. A state law doubled the number of food truck inspections that the county health department was required to complete. So with their PHIG funding, they invested in hiring new staff, providing training, and getting updated tools to handle the increased workload efficiently. So, this service directly impacted that community by protecting food safety and supporting local businesses. So, overall for Americans, this means that there will be more trained public health professionals working locally to keep communities safe and healthy.

SHEEHAN:

Yeah, that's one of those situations where the evidence of a good job is that everything's fine.

MATTISON JENKINS:

Yes.

SHEEHAN:

Are there other examples you could cite of PHIG delivering on what you could consider a return on investment?

MATTISON JENKINS:

Oh, sure. There's so many. There's so much good work going on across the country. I mean, as I had mentioned before, the grant has supported thousands of new hires. It's improved communication with communities in multiple languages. It's strengthened partnerships with universities and local organizations, as well as modernized, outdated data systems by replacing paper or facts-based reporting with secure digital systems that make disease tracking and response much faster. The Oklahoma City County Health Department redesigned their patient flow at their clinics, and they added patient navigators, which allowed them to double the number of patients they see each day while improving care for their community. And in Nebraska, they used PHIG funding to modernize their data systems by creating publicly available dashboards, which can give communities quick and clear insights into the health trends in their respective communities. So, together, you know, upgrades like this help health departments work smarter and respond faster, which can stop illnesses before they spread and also avoid costly emergencies. And finally, saving taxpayers dollars by tackling these problems early. So, those are just a few examples. Yeah.

SHEEHAN:

And Stacey, how does the grant prepare communities for future emergencies?

MATTISON JENKINS:

Great question. So, one of the key lessons that we learned from the COVID pandemic and recent other outbreaks is that emergency response depends on how strong your public health infrastructure is. And so, PHIG strengthens the systems that help us spot early threats and respond fast, like developing modern disease tracking tools, having better laboratory staff sharing and coordination, and trained emergency response teams. So, we can't wait for a crisis to build these capabilities. We must plan and put them in place before something happens. A couple of other examples about this come to minors. The state of Utah consolidated their data systems and strengthened data sharing agreements so that public health leaders can respond more precisely to emerging threats in real time. The Los Angeles Department of Health purchased a mobile lab equipped with necessary tools to test drinking water in areas that have been recently affected by natural disasters. So, these are just a couple examples that show how investing in people, services, and systems early ensure that the United States can detect outbreaks earlier, we can coordinate our response faster, and protect our communities more effectively.

SHEEHAN:

Yeah, and you're certainly making the case for sort of the importance of prolonged funding. Could you give us a little more detail into sort of the importance of sustained funding, as opposed to sort of stopgap or emergency funding?

MATTISON JENKINS:

So, as I mentioned earlier, emergency funding is essential during a crisis, but usually arrives after the problem has already happened. So, sustained infrastructure funding helps prevent the boom and bust funding cycle by letting health departments build stable, modern systems that protect Americans every day. PHIG does this. It provides steady, long-term support that strengthens the whole public health system, not just during a crisis, but every day. It helps health departments fill workforce gaps, modernize technology, as well as shore up essential functions like grants management, workforce development. So, these benefits can last well beyond the life cycle of this grant. A couple of examples. In Nevada, they use PHIG funding to strengthen their grant and contracting processes. So by streamlining administrative systems and improving how funding reaches partners, the state is actually building the infrastructure that helps public health programs operate more effectively for years to come. The Kansas Department of Health used their PHIG funding to sustain and enhance statewide emergency communications platforms so that they can more effectively manage public health threats like measles and tuberculosis. Most disease-specific funding doesn't give health departments the opportunity that PHIG does. For example, if a health department needs to hire a communication specialist to help keep the public informed about all of their activities, the PHIG grant will give them the ability to hire that one person to work across multiple, what we call categorical funding or disease-specific programs.

SHEEHAN:

Could you summarize for us sort of like the big takeaway of the PHIG grant?

MATTISON JENKINS:

If I had to summarize PHIG's impact in one sentence, I would say that PHIG is rebuilding the public health foundation, modernizing our systems, strengthening our workforce, and helping keep Americans safe and healthy every day.

SHEEHAN:

Stacey Mattison Jenkins, thanks so much.

MATTISON JENKINS:

Sure, thank you. It's been a pleasure.

SHEEHAN:

Stacey Mattison Jenkins is the director of the Division of Jurisdictional Support at CDC's Public

Health Infrastructure Center.

This has been another PHIG Impact Report, part of Public Health Review Morning Edition. I'm John Sheehan for the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.