County health departments see $75M public health investment
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Eighty-six county health departments, representing about 96% of Hoosiers, have received a piece of a $75 million public health investment meant to improve residents’ health outcomes.
The funding stems from the Health First Indiana initiative, which was a part of a newly enacted law passed in the 2023 General Assembly.
The funding will fuel new or enhanced programming to support preventive and health outcome-related activities, including maternal and child health, tobacco and vaping cessation, chronic disease, trauma and injury prevention.
Counties had to opt-in for funding; those that didn’t were Whitley, Wells, Fountain, Johnson, Crawford and Harrison. They can decide to participate again in 2025.
“The work began in 2021 with the formation of the Governor’s Public Health Commission, the support for the passage of SEA 4 and the overwhelming county-level participation in Health First Indiana have brought us to this moment,” State Health Commissioner Lindsay Weaver said in a news release. “As I have visited communities across the state, it is clear they are poised to address the most pressing health challenges they face through partnerships within those communities.”
Local health departments will decide how the money is best spent to be a healthier community.