Association of State and Territorial Health Officials

I'm Jon Sheehan with news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

Healthy aging means creating the conditions that help people remain healthy, connected, independent, and engaged throughout the life course.

September is Healthy Aging Month, and today Larry Greenblatt, state health director, chief medical officer, and state health officer for the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, and an ASTHO member, discusses North Carolina's approach to healthy aging, brain health, and caregiving.

Later, we'll hear from Dr.

Jewel Mullen, associate professor at Dell Medical School, about the importance of boundary-spanning leadership in addressing complex public health challenges.

Public health can move us from treating aging as a downstream service issue to treating it as an upstream population health strategy.

Mm-hmm.

Larry, this year your team participated in ASTHO's virtual brain health and caregiving learning community.

I'm John Sheehan with news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands faced back-to-back super typhoons in 2026, putting its health system and infrastructure under significant strain.

Today, Esther Muña, CEO of the Northern Mariana Islands Commonwealth Health Corporation and Territorial Health Official for CNMI, and an ASTHO board member, discusses how the territory prepared for the storms and responded to their aftermath.

Later on, we'll hear from two other members of the CNMI Hospital Emergency Preparedness Program team, Warren Villagomez, Director for Public Health, and Patrick Fidia, the senior planner.

First, we'll hear from Esther Muña.

You know, they're ready to step up and basically do anything possible to help.

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Esther Muña is CEO of the Northern Mariana Islands Commonwealth Health Corporation and the Territorial Health Official for CNMI, and an ASTHO board member.

I'm John Sheehan with news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

South Carolina has seen overdose deaths decline for two consecutive years.

Today, Brandon Traxler, Acting Director of the South Carolina Department of Public Health and an ASTHO board member, discusses how coordination across public health, law enforcement, emergency medical services, treatment providers, and community partners is helping drive those gains.

Dr. Brandon Traxler, welcome back to the show.

Thank you.

I'm John Sheehan with news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

Public health agencies rely on strong relationships with community organizations and partners, but fragmented outreach can leave those partners overwhelmed by repeated surveys, meetings, and requests from different parts of the same agency.

Today, Anna Bradley, Senior Analyst for Public Health Infrastructure and Performance Improvement at ASTHO, discusses how customer relationship management, or CRM, approaches can help agencies coordinate engagement and reduce burden to strengthen partnerships.

Public health runs on relationships.

CRM gives us a way to manage those relationships intentionally.

Emergency medical services are evolving beyond the traditional model of responding to a 911 call and transporting patients to the emergency department.

Maggie Nils, senior analyst for preparedness at ASTHO, discusses how states are exploring new approaches to EMS, including how community paramedicine, mobile integrated health, telehealth, and treatment in place, while also working to address persistent workforce and funding challenges, particularly in rural communities.

Maggie recently authored a new health policy update on the topic.

Maggie Nils, welcome back to the show.

I'm John Sheehan with news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

Strong public health infrastructure depends on systems and tools and an organizational culture that promotes using them effectively.

On today's PHIG Impact Report, Colton Anderson, senior analyst for infrastructure and improvement at ASTHO, discusses how PHIG funds allowed for establishing the Quality Advisory Group, or the QAG, a network of performance improvement professionals from state and territorial health departments.

He explains how the group creates a space for members to share challenges, exchange practical tools, and learn from one another as they work to build stronger systems for quality improvement and performance management.

Later, Demet Harkins, director of quality improvement at the Mississippi State Department of Health, shares his experience participating in the QAG and explains how ideas from the group have informed his agency's work.

If we can help more health departments get to the point where improvement is just part of their organizational culture rather than something that's layered on top of their work, I think that's a pretty significant contribution to the public health infrastructure.

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Colton Anderson is a senior analyst for infrastructure and improvement at ASTHO.

I'm John Sheehan with news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

As public health agencies face growing demands to prepare for emergencies while maintaining essential services, strong infrastructure, data, and community partnerships are more important than ever.

Today, New Jersey Department of Health Commissioner and ASTHO member Dr. Raynard Washington discusses his priorities for strengthening the state's public health system, drawing on his experience leading public health efforts in Philadelphia and Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.

He explains why sustained investment in public health infrastructure and the workforce is critical to preparing for the next emergency, and how data can help leaders set priorities, direct resources, and measure progress.

I think it's really important where we are right now as a country that as our federal public health system, it continues to be challenged that states have strong leadership and that the role of state public health is even more critical now than it ever has been to ensure that we are protecting the health of residents.

The public health preparedness system in the United States looks fundamentally different than it did before 9-11, shaped by the attacks, the anthrax events that followed, Hurricane Katrina, and subsequent public health emergencies.

Today, ASTHO's CEO Dr. Joseph Cantor and Vice President for Government Affairs Jeffrey Ikoma reflect on how 9-11 transformed the nation's approach to emergency preparedness, including the shift from a focus on bioterrorism toward an all-hazards framework and the development of stronger coordination, surveillance, laboratory, workforce, and medical countermeasure capabilities.

First, we'll hear from Dr. Joseph Cantor.

Dr. Cantor, we're commemorating the 25th anniversary of 9-11.

They need coordination to do this job well.

And certainly the federal agencies need appropriate resources.

Beyond that, I think we try and support at ASTHO where we can in many ways through coordination, through peer networks like the public health preparedness directors, We make sure that emergency response preparedness leaders throughout the country are connected to each other, have open lines of communication, can share stories, can talk frankly and confidentially with each other about what's working well, what's not, what threats do they come down.

That's really important.

Beth Malden-Morgenthau is deputy commissioner for the Office of Emergency Preparedness and Response at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

Tomorrow, we'll hear part two of our 9-11 commemoration with ASTHO CEO Joseph Cantor and Vice President for Government Affairs Jeffrey Acoma.

For more on public health's role in the response, the immediate and long-term effects on the field, and how lessons from 9-11 continue to shape coordination, resources, and readiness for future emergencies, In the future of public health preparedness, review a new ASTHO resource titled How 9-11 Shaped the Future of Public Health Preparedness, a Q&A with Meredith Allen, Vice President of Health Security.

The link is in the show notes.

This has been Public Health Review Morning Edition.

[upbeat music] Rhonda Randall is Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer for UnitedHealthcare Employer and Individual and a United Health Foundation board member.

UHF is a founding member of ASTHO's Innovation Advisory Council, a multi-sector forum that brings state and territorial health leaders together with leaders across industries to advance public health innovation.

This has been Public Health Review Morning Edition.

I'm Jon Sheehan for the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.