BERK Participates in Public Health Think Tank in DC

Our public health work at BERK grows out of the fundamental question: How can the public health system best protect and promote the health of people and communities? Understanding that public health is not constrained by state, county, or city borders, we explore questions of who is responsible for providing these services and how to ensure that everyone has access to them, no matter where they live.

We recently had the opportunity to engage on these questions with key national public health leaders. In August 2018, Annie Sieger and I attended the Public Health National Center for Innovation (PHNCI) Think Tank on Advancing 21st Century Public Health in Washington, DC. The conference brought together public health leaders from national, state, and local public health agencies; academia; industry; foundations; and other organizations to discuss the future state of the governmental public health practice, including strategies related to workforce development, financing, accreditation, and population health outcomes.

Over the last year, BERK worked with PHNCI to understand and communicate the national landscape for foundational public health services (FPHS). Our landscape analysis assessed the national relevance and value of the FPHS framework, and we worked with PHNCI to produce case studies on Washington, Oregon, and Ohio that outline each state’s work in transforming public health systems, along with challenges and lessons learned.

Since 2010, BERK has actively engaged in public health work across the U.S., working with state and local health leaders in Colorado, Kansas, Oregon, and Washington on statewide studies that analyze current services provided, levels of service, and costs of fully providing these services.