Strengthening maryland's public health infrastructure - purpose: the maryland department of health (MDH) is applying for the centers for disease control and prevention (CDC) notice of funding…

Strengthening maryland's public health infrastructure - purpose: the maryland department of health (MDH) is applying for the centers for disease control and prevention (CDC) notice of funding opportunity, strengthening U.S. Public health infrastructure, workforce, and data systems. The purpose of this application is to invest in new and transformative ways to modernize maryland's public health infrastructure. This proposal will leave maryland's public health system more prepared to respond to the range of public health challenges. This application enhances and strengthens maryland's public health infrastructure (both state and local) by building MDH's foundational organizational competencies; increasing the number and type of public health personnel; supporting innovative ways to attract and retain public health personnel; and extending ongoing departmental efforts in data modernization. The MDH office of the deputy secretary for public health services will assume primary responsibility for implementation of this proposal, working in close coordination with the organizational units responsible for the foundational capabilities and with the public health programs that work across the foundational areas, including with maryland's local health departments. The office of the deputy secretary for public health services will also ensure that there is coordination of activities conducted using this funding with activities funded under various other CDC funding streams (e.g., the epidemiology for laboratory capacity for infections diseases (ELC) cooperative agreement; the CDC crisis response cooperative agreement: covid-19 public health workforce supplemental funding; etc.). Activities: MDH has proposed activities and milestones in each of three strategies (A1: workforce; A2: foundational capabilities; A3: data modernization). In strategy A1, MDH is proposing four overarching activities to enhance the public health workforce: 1) enhance human resources capacities; 2) recruit into the public health workforce; 3) support the existing public health workforce; and 4) support the public health workforce in local health departments. Strategy A2 proposes six overarching activities to enhance foundational capabilities at MDH: 1) ensure MDH has the resources to focus on strengthening the public health infrastructure; 2) support health department accreditation; 3) strengthen organizational competencies; 4) enhance MDH communications capabilities; 5) strengthen public health governance; and 6) augment capacity to advance health equity. In strategy A3 we are proposing three overarching activities to enhance ongoing data modernization activities at MDH: 1) create new office of data modernization; 2) modernize public health data systems; and 3) strengthen the state and local public health informatics and data science workforce.