Advancing colorado's public health workforce capacity, data, and equity through public health transformation - the colorado department of public health & environment (cdphe) will use CDC grant funds…

Advancing colorado's public health workforce capacity, data, and equity through public health transformation - the colorado department of public health & environment (cdphe) will use CDC grant funds to strengthen partnerships and build resilience among colorado's public health workforce, direct systems and resources to prioritize health equity across colorado, and fund strategic investments in statewide programs and in 53 local public health agencies (lphas). Cdphe will disburse 45% of the workforce strategy funding to lphas in the first year using an equitable formula for allocation. Cdphe will also disburse $600,000 to two tribes in colorado. The state of colorado must continue to transform its public health infrastructure. The goal of this proposed project is to lead and support colorado's public health system to create a stronger system that is flexible, has adequate capacity, equitable resources, and is supported by data and technology. Cdphe is building connections and efficiencies that will better support and equip the struggling workforce. Cdphe, lphas, and partner organizations seek to grow, sustain, and diversify the public health workforce (A1) by establishing or expanding internships, fellowships, and related programs; developing and strengthening colorado's capacity for surges in response to outbreaks; and increasing employee involvement in professional networks and peer mentoring groups. Training efforts include creating a statewide public health learning pathways program to build skills and incentivize staff. Cdphe will strengthen the public health workforce's capacity for planning, development, management, forecasting, and quality improvement efforts. Strategic hires in workforce development, data modernization, and evaluation will support the grant's implementation. Colorado's foundational capabilities activities (A2) intersect and support proposed workforce (A1) and data modernization (A3) activities. A2 activities include funding the public health digital library for broad access to evidence-based resources to all lphas and initiatives to improve system operations and analysis of health data. Community partnerships and engagement will be improved through increasing cdphe's language justice capacity, facilitating statewide participation in a local health department academy of science, and through an EMS system development and sustainability taskforce. Other A2 projects include supporting the statewide community health assessment and building regional capacity to address the public health impacts of climate change in partnership with lphas. Cdphe's data modernization initiative (DMI) director and support team will lead colorado's data modernization (A3) activities. This team will create an enterprise-wide steering committee to build upon cdphe's epidemiology and laboratory capacity data modernization project and assess the needs, gaps, and opportunities across cdphe. Calpho will lead an integrated initiative to assess needs, gaps, and opportunities in lphas. Cdphe is well positioned to ensure agile procurement in planning and implementation, engage contractors for support, create implementation plans, and execute the work. Each strategy is elevated through partnerships throughout the public health system. With these partners, cdphe aims to strengthen and accelerate colorado's public health transformation to create a true public health system that responds to threats and advances equity and health. Key outcomes will include a) increasing the availability of real-time, linked public health and related data to provide better, faster, and more coordinated response, and b) increasing the number and diversity of staff hired and retained, while providing support for learning that increases individual and systemwide capacity across foundational public health capabilities and skills.