Public Health Review Morning Edition

Dr. Dan Edney, ASTHO Member and State Health Officer of the Mississippi State Department of Health, and Dr. Susan Kansagra, Chief Medical Officer at ASTHO, discuss the Rural Health Transformation Program and the recent ASTHO panels that covered what states can expect and how some agencies are preparing; Tim Rosselet, Manager of Digital Learning and Design at ASTHO, shares more about Thursday's upcoming Ignite, Accelerate, and Activate webinar session on emotional intelligence skills in the public health workplace; ASTHO is looking for state agencies to apply to participate in ethical wastewater surveillance trainings, which will take place in-person in four selected states; and ASTHO's evidence-based technical packages can help departments improve community health interventions with tactical tools and strategies. ASTHO Blog: Understanding and Applying for the Rural Health Transformation Program ASTHO Webinar: Ignite, Accelerate, and Activate: Series 3, Session 1: Building Emotional Intelligence Skills ASTHO Web Page: Ethical Analysis for Infectious Disease Wastewater Surveillance Training Opportunity ASTHO Resource: Evidence-Based Public Health

Dr. Arti Barnes, Chief Medical Officer at the Illinois Department of Public Health, describes how her agency is working collaboratively with other state departments to enhance access to pediatric vaccinations; Jeffrey Ekoma, Senior Director of Government Affairs at ASTHO, discusses changes to the CDC, this month's federal funding deadline, and more news from Capitol Hill in this week's View From Washington, D.C. report; a full-length recording of ASTHO's webinar on Navigating Ethical Issues in Wastewater Surveillance for Infectious Diseases is now available online; and ASTHO congratulates new member Dr. John Dunn on his appointment as Interim Commissioner for the Tennessee Department of Health. ASTHO Newscast: 925: KFF Tracking Poll, Youth Vaccines ASTHO Legislative Alert: Summary of FY26 House LHHS Appropriations Bill ASTHO Web Page: INSPIRE: Readiness - Navigating Ethical Issues in Wastewater Surveillance for Infectious Diseases John Dunn Bio

Former ASTHO President Dr. Anne Zink, Senior Clinical Fellow at Yale University and practicing emergency medicine physician, shares how PopHIVE, a database of de-identified, population-level health data, draws data from various sources, allowing public health providers to find patterns and make informed decisions; Nicholas Porter, Director for Environmental Health at ASTHO, discusses the public health threats that exist during floods and hurricanes, and what some states are doing to protect communities; ASTHO's Wildfire and Wildfire Smoke Guidance and Resources can help jurisdictions strengthen their emergency preparedness; and ASTHOs latest legislative alert PopHIVE Web Page ASTHO Blog: Responding to Environmental Health Threats Following Hurricanes ASTHO Web Page: Wildfire and Wildfire Smoke Guidance and Resources

Former ASTHO President Dr. Anne Zink, Senior Clinical Fellow at Yale University and practicing emergency medicine physician, shares how PopHIVE, an interactive database of de-identified, population-level health data, can help public health providers navigate health trends in their respective jurisdictions; Joy Ermie, Health Commissioner of Henry County Health Department, discusses ASTHO's upcoming webinar series on succession planning explains how it can help address various public health challenges; Dr. Sameer Vohra, Director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, gave the closing keynote last week at the National Conference on Tobacco or Health in Chicago; and ASTHO's State and Territorial Administrative Readiness (STAR) Center offers resources, tools, and best practices to help your agency build infrastructure and address critical population health needs. PopHIVE Web Page ASTHO Webinar: Succession Planning Part 1 of 3: Building the Case for Succession Planning National Conference on Tobacco or Health (2025) ASTHO Resource: State and Territorial Administrative Readiness (STAR) Center

Sara Patterson, Acting Director of CDC's Public Health Infrastructure Center, details her view of the Public Health Infrastructure Grant. PHIG Partners Web Page PHIG Newsletter

Madison Hluchan, ASTHO Assistant Director of Medicaid Health Systems Partnerships, details how a new ASTHO resource can help your team with the Rural Health Transformation Program; and JoAnne Deehr, ASTHO Senior Analyst for State Health Policy, shares prevention and response policies to reduce overdoses involving synthetic opioids. ASTHO Blog Article: Understanding and Applying for the Rural Health Transformation Program ASTHO Blog Article: Prevention and Response Policies to Reduce Overdoses Involving Synthetic Opioids ASTHO Web Page: Legislative Alerts

Christy Roby, Local Public Health Performance Section Supervisor with Iowa Health and Human Services, explains how her agency developed a new technical assistance infrastructure referral system; Chelsea Cipriano, Managing Director of the Common Health Coalition, celebrates National Community Health Worker Awareness Week by sharing how her organization is working to build partnerships between public health and healthcare programs; ASTHO has a web page dedicated to CHW's; and ASTHO's evidence-based technical packages can provide health agencies with accessible strategies to enhance community health interventions. ASTHO Blog: Iowa Promotes Public Health Infrastructure by Supporting Local Health Departments ASTHO Resource: Tools That Support Community Health Worker Programs in Island Jurisdictions ASTHO Web Page: Community Health Workers ASTHO Web Page: Evidence-Based Public Health

Dr. Joseph Kanter, CEO of ASTHO, joined us from the Public Health Infrastructure Grant Annual Recipient Convening to discuss the importance of public health leaders coming together to learn from one another; Dr. Sameer Vohra, Director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, explains how his department works to improve access to care in rural communities across the state; ASTHO will host the first webinar session of the Activate series in the Ignite, Accelerate, and Activate leadership workshop on Thursday, September 11th; and the PHIG National Partners Connections newsletter helps keep public health leaders up to date on deadlines, project updates, resources, and more. Illinois Department of Public Health: Rural & Underserved Populations ASTHO Webinar: Ignite, Accelerate, and Activate: Series 3, Session 1: Building Emotional Intelligence Skills ASTHO Web Page: PHIG Connections Newsletter

Dr. Kayla Anderson, Senior Advisor for Mental Health and Adverse Childhood Experiences in the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, shares how the CDC's new mental health data channel streamlines access to essential data and resources that often become siloed by different sources; Dr. Scott Rivkees, Dean of Education at the School of Public Health at Brown University, talks about his goals for public health students, current challenges in the field, and the importance of communities like ASTHO; ASTHO will hold a webinar with PHIG National Partners today, Tuesday, August 26th, about Wave 2 of the Public Health Data Modernization Implementation Center Program; and ASTHO welcomes new ASTHO member Ashley Newmyer, Interim Director for the Division of Public Health at the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. CDC: Mental Health Data Channel ASTHO Webinar: Public Health Data Modernization Implementation Center Program Ashley Newmyer Bio

Key James, Reproductive Health Unit Manager with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, shares her takeaways as a recent graduate of ASTHO's Developing Executive Leadership in Public Health program; Suleima Salgado, CEO of the Global Partnership for Telehealth and Principal Investigator for the Southeastern Telehealth Resource Center, discusses emerging trends in telehealth and its important role in expanding access to care; a new study published in the Journal of Public Health Management & Practice explores AI's potential in expediting the content analysis of public health documents to facilitate continuous program improvement; and Dr. John Langefeld, Commissioner of the Kentucky Department for Public Health, will provide a keynote at the 10th Annual Kentucky Rural Telehealth Summit on September 25th in Frankfort, Kentucky. ASTHO Web Page: Developing Executive Leaders in Public Health Global Partnership for TeleHealth Journal of Public Health Management & Practice: Content Analysis of Social Determinants of Health Accelerator Plans Using Artificial Intelligence: A Use Case for Public Health Practitioners University of Kentucky: Registration open for the 10th annual Kentucky Rural Telehealth Summit