Drs. Kristina Box and Judy Monroe – The Indiana Governor’s Public Health Review Commission

In 2021, Indiana Governor Holcomb launched the Public Health Review Commission, charged with asking hard questions that cover the waterfront of public health challenges in Indiana and delivering actionable answers this coming summer. Its co-chair, Dr. Judy Monroe, and its director, Indiana State Health Commissioner Dr. Kristina Box, joined us to share what this unusual and promising, fast-moving enterprise is all about. The challenge before Hoosiers is formidable: the state ranks 48th in the country in public health financing. The Commission is off to a quick start staging monthly public meetings and conducting listening tours across the state. It has created a website for public comment and staged outreach to businesses, schools, and universities. Any big surprises? Public health capacities vary enormously across the state – it is “eye-opening.” Indiana’s 49 rural counties especially struggle. Data systems are woeful and antiquated. In the current acutely politicized environment, the Commission is “well-positioned to lift above the politics” and help the state’s citizens focus on the future, especially children’s health. The Commission can contribute to “lifting all the voices.” It can offer space for people who fear mandates are “stripping people of their rights” to vent their frustrations. At the same time, it can convince citizens that public health, when successful, lengthens life expectancy, especially in focusing on chronic diseases. Communications are in urgent need of an upgrade: countering disinformation requires listening carefully to people’s concerns and mobilizing trusted partners in communities, and enlisting and training the next generation of public health professionals. The private sector will be vital partners in any modernization of data systems and in building stockpiles that better meet future needs.

Dr. Kristina Box is Indiana State Health Commissioner. Dr. Judy Monroe is the president and CEO of the CDC Foundation.