In August 2021, Governor Holcomb issued an executive order to establish the Governor’s Public Health Commission to advise him on the functioning of Indiana’s Public Health System. The Commission released its findings this week.

The report notes that Indiana’s life expectancy ranks 40th among the rest of the states at 77 years (2019). An especially troubling fact: “Of even greater concern is the difference between the Indiana county with the highest life expectancy and the county with the lowest life expectancy is almost nine years.”

Additional challenges brought to light in the report:

  • Rising deaths from drugs, alcohol and suicide
  • Rising rates of adult and child obesity
  • Persistently high rates of adult tobacco use and teen vaping
  • Continuing risks from drug resistant disease agents and infectious diseases.

In short, the Commission was tasked with looking at the strengths and weaknesses of the state’s public health system and identifying paths to improvement. The Commission summarized its recommendations through six lenses: 1) governance, infrastructure and services; 2) public health funding; 3) workforce; 4) data and info integration; 5) emergency preparedness; and 6) child and adolescent health.

The Commission brought forth 32 recommendations. While all are worthy of review, for brevity some of the recommendations are mentioned below that might be of most interest to Indiana Chamber members:

  • Establish baseline standards for all local health departments
  • Expand Indiana Department of Health resources to support local health departments
  • Assist local health departments to engage local businesses, health providers, schools and other governmental and non-governmental organizations to promote public health in the community
  • Promote delivery of public health services at the county level or higher, including allocation of funding
  • Establish consistency in the tracking of the public health resources and calculate the return on investment of additional funding allocations
  • Coordinate current initiatives and provide a framework for the development of a state health workforce plan
  • Expand health workforce recruitment, training, placement and retention into areas of need
  • Support evidence-based health education, nutrition and physical activity in schools and early childhood education settings

The Chamber will be engaging significantly in discussions as some of these ideas become proposals in next year’s Legislature. Access the 106-page report.

Resource: Mike Ripley at (317) 264-6897 or mripley@indianachamber.com