Washington, DC, August 23, 2024 — On this month’s podcast, the National Association of County and City Health Officials’ (NACCHO) Victoria Van de Vate, Director of Government Affairs, and Lauren Mastroberardino, Government Affairs Senior Specialist, provided an outlook for federal funding this fall, amid the summer Congressional recess and the upcoming election season. They also discussed the Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25) Senate Appropriations Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill (also known as the Labor-HHS bill), and how that sets up possible funding negotiations later this year. For more updates and to subscribe to the weekly newsletter, visit: www.naccho.org/advocacy.

Later in the program (6:34), NACCHO’s Victoria Van de Vate, Director of Government Affairs, and Meghan Shea, Senior Program Analyst - Informatics, discussed key findings from NACCHO’s 2024 Public Health Informatics Profile. The first-of-its-kind assessment fills a key gap in our nation’s understanding of the information science workforce, data systems, and the overall scope of informatics at the local public health level. The findings illuminate a wide picture of informatics and data modernization efforts across the country. Notably, key findings show that while over half of local health departments are working on data modernization initiatives, most are doing so without a dedicated informatics team or department. There is also a high level of interest in using AI, with over half of local health departments interested in adapting AI or machine learning into their work.

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About NACCHO

The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) represents the over 3,300 local governmental health departments across the country. These city, county, metropolitan, district, and tribal departments work every day to protect and promote health and well-being for all people in their communities. For more information, visit www.naccho.org.