Ready or Not Report for 2022

Posted by Cecilia Vernes on April 14th, 2022 Posted in: Blog, Public Health, Public Health Policy, Regional Interest

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As National Public Health Week ended last week and Black Maternal Health Week begins, we have more public health news. The latest report from Trust for America’s Public Health is available online.  The report rates the level of readiness of public health departments at the state level as well as in the District of Columbia in terms of public health emergencies.  Like last year, we are still in a public health emergency.

In episode 451 of the podcast, Public Health On Call Dr. Joshua Sharfstein interviewed the President, and CEO of Trust for America’s Public Health, Dr. Nadine Gracia.

She describes the report and what changes have been made since last year.  Below are the key indicators used to rate each department at a level of low, medium, or high.  This year 20 departments placed in the high tier, 17 in the middle tier, and 13 in the low tier.

Key Indicators:

• Participation in the Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC), allows the nursing workforce to move readily across surge areas
• New indicator – Comprehensive public health systems, percentage of state populations served by a public health care system
• Accreditation by the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) and/or Emergency Management Accreditation Program (EMAP)
• Public health funding trends
• Community water system safety, access to safe drinking water
• Access and use to paid time off, affecting infection control
• Flu vaccination as a reflection of a community response infrastructure
• Patient safety in hospitals, percentage of hospitals with an “A” rating from the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade
• Public health laboratory testing capacity throughout a sustained surge

Changes in a key indicator from last year:

Although last year’s report was published also during this pandemic,  one metric has been redefined. What used to be indicator 2, the percentage of hospitals participating in healthcare coalitions, has been redefined as the percentage of the state population served by a comprehensive public health system.

Special section: Lessons on the Pandemic’s Tragic Death Toll

A special section on the high death toll from the pandemic and how it could be avoided in future pandemics is also included.  Policy change recommendations include:

• Increasing flexible and sustainable public health funding
• Modernizing health data and disease tracking systems
• Ensuring strong federal leadership and coordination with a senior leadership role in the administration
• Hiring and training a diverse and skilled public health workforce

Finally, the recommended policy changes overall are very similar to last year.

The 2022 report is available at Ready or Not: Protecting the Public’s Health from Diseases, Disasters, and Bioterrorism 2022