The state Department of Health is seeking new funding to fund local public health infrastructure amid growing concerns that these offices lack the resources to effectively prepare for future emergencies while conducting daily operations. I'm looking for a way.
Health Commissioner Dr. Caitlan Baston said identifying more sustainable sources of revenue for these local offices is a priority for the province. Her team is currently studying policy models that other states, including California and Indiana, are using to generate and equitably distribute more funds to support public health infrastructure, and New Jersey. She said they are meeting with local public health offices around the state.
The department is also leveraging federal grants meant to support public health infrastructure to expand staffing at local public health departments, officials said. The office also works with partner organizations to conduct hearing tours with local health authorities regarding cooperation in related programs.
“The pandemic has sharpened the national impact of chronic public health underfunding and strengthened basic public health capacities, addressed workforce shortages, modernized data systems, and addressed critical public health needs.” It sheds much-needed light on the need for an agile response that improves our ability to respond,” Darya Ewais, Director of Communications at the Ministry of Health, said in a written statement.. “It also highlights the need for long-term support for community health, which is a critical part of the public health ecosystem.”
“Through this [federal public health] “With ongoing funding and other efforts, today we are building a future for public health in New Jersey that is person-centered, community-driven, equity-driven, and data-driven,” said Ewais. Ta.
In comments to New Jersey Spotlight News after a recent health equity event at Rutgers University, Ms. Baston said her work as a primary care physician and addiction specialist has led to challenges faced by local public health departments. He said it helped him understand. Her team's new effort to expand the funding pool comes after former commissioner, nurse and hospital administrator Judy Persichilli, who largely defended the current funding system for local public health. This suggests a shift from the ministry's position..
Health centers facing an excessive burden
New Jersey's 104 local public health departments are responsible for tracking and controlling disease outbreaks, running flu clinics for seniors and low-income households, tracking lead exposure, inspecting restaurant kitchens, and more. has received tens of millions of dollars in additional federal funding during the coronavirus pandemic. -19 pandemic. Ewais said the state has invested more than $161 million in local and county public health this fiscal year alone and plans to funnel an additional $6 million in federal infrastructure funds to those departments over two years. That's what it means.
But much of that funding is now gone, leaving public health departments back in the same precarious economic situation they were in before the pandemic. These were supported by very limited federal and state subsidies and some local tax revenues, but there were few flexible and predictable financial resources. That's why regional offices need to address new challenges, such as the current syphilis and the rise in congenital syphilis, which is transmitted from mothers to babies at birth but is easily treatable, and to respond in the event of another surge in COVID-19 infections. It is becoming difficult to expand the workforce. .
A bipartisan bill would restore the state's public health priority fund.
Policy experts have long expressed concern that New Jersey's public health workers are being overburdened and under-resourced during a pandemic that has only grown louder. Earlier this month, Gov. Phil Murphy released a review of the state's COVID-19 response, saying New Jersey was unprepared for the pandemic and remains unprepared for the next crisis. , said the problem is further exacerbated by a weak public health system.
“The overarching theme that emerged across a variety of settings was that public health systems require continued investment. After years of neglect or underfunding, large-scale global “The hope is that the state will be able to address the current crisis,” wrote attorney Paul Zubek, a former state official who led the work on the report, for which the state will pay $9 million. .
“Effective public health capacity requires substantial and We need consistent financial support,” Zubek added.
“Ignore, panic, repeat.”
Chris Merkel, president of the New Jersey Municipal Health Officials Association and Monmouth County Public Health Director, said the pattern of “ignorance, panic and repetition” outlined in Zubeck's report is putting the public at risk. . “If we continue on this path, there will be more chaos and more deaths next time,” he said.
Earlier this month, Murphy signed an order creating a task force of state officials to consider Zubek's 33 recommendations and codify changes to prepare New Jersey. But in an interview with WNYC Radio after the report's release, Murphy cautioned that “public health infrastructure is a huge step forward, both financially and otherwise.”
The $56 billion budget Mr. Murphy outlined in February, which lawmakers are using as a springboard for a final spending plan by July 1, would include tens of millions of dollars in state and federal funding. Assigned to public health programs. That includes about $19 million in state funding for child lead poisoning research and infectious disease control, Ewais said. But Murphy's plan does not include additional unrestricted funding for local public health projects.
But some state lawmakers are trying to change that. A bipartisan effort led by Sens. Vin Gopal (D-Monmouth) and Teresa Lewis (D-Essex), and Representatives Dr. Herb Conaway (D-Burlington) and Dr. Shanique Speights (D-Essex). The bill would restore the Public Health Priority Fund. . First created in 1966 and cut from the budget in 2010 by former Gov. Chris Christie, lawmakers are now seeking to allocate $10 million annually through the program.
“Funding for public health is often discretionary and tends to be ignored or cut, especially during tough fiscal times.Decades of underfunding have weakened emergency preparedness and response capacity. — report by Trust for America's Health
Many local public health leaders say the statewide need is well over $10 million, but there is strong support for the measure. A similar bill received several hearings in Congress last year, but public health advocates said legislative leaders questioned where the money would come from. Progress on the bill has reportedly stalled.
Merkel said the association is keen to work with the bill's sponsors and governors to explore funding options. “While $10 million a year is not enough to maintain public health infrastructure in the long term, it is a start to directly supporting local health departments with the state budget, something the state has not done in decades. '' he said.
Public health advocates, who most often speak to Gopal, did not respond to requests for comment through the New Jersey Senate Democratic Party's office in Trenton.
Post-pandemic recognition
Public health also appears to be a new focus for the administration. Baston said there is a growing recognition among federal and state health leaders across the country that public health requires further investment, especially in the wake of the pandemic. She said her team is talking with contacts across the country to identify a model that might work here.
One of the programs they are considering is Health First Indiana. It's a new initiative that he expects to provide $75 million this year and $150 million in 2025 to support local public health workers, prevention programs and other programs. Baston's team is also considering a California law adopted in 2022 that would allocate $300 million to public health this year, two-thirds of which would go to local governments, according to the program's website. . They are also tracking public health transformations underway in six other states, she said.
However, Baston said it has been difficult to translate these concepts into something that works in New Jersey, given the mix of funding mechanisms and government structures in place at New Jersey's local health departments. He said that there is. Other states tend to have a more homogeneous structure at the county or regional level.
“We continue to work closely with our local public health partners to find sustainable solutions to prepare for the next pandemic and the evolving needs of the communities we serve. ” Ewais said.
Despite these challenges, New Jersey may be in a better position than other states. A recent report from the nonprofit Trust for America's Health, Ready or Not 2023, shows New Jersey is in a relatively good position to protect people from pandemics and other disasters. ing. For example, it ranks highly for drinking water quality, flu shot coverage, and top-ranked hospitals.
According to the report, New Jersey is also one of 37 states with stable public health funding in 2022-2023, but funding levels remain inadequate. “Public health infrastructure enables states to conduct emergency response activities, promote health equity, and build population resilience. However, public health funding is often discretionary. , they tend to be ignored or cut, especially during tough fiscal times. Decades of underfunding have weakened our ability to prepare for and respond to emergencies,” says the Trust for America Health. is written in the report.
