Report assesses states on readiness for public health emergencies

Trust for America’s Health today released its latest annual report assessing states on 10 public health readiness indicators ranging from whether they have a nurse licensing compact so jurisdictions can borrow medical personnel and a plan to surge public health laboratory testing to the share of hospitals participating in health care coalitions and people receiving a seasonal flu vaccine.

“The importance of this report is that it gives states actionable data to adopt policies that save lives,” said TFAH President and CEO John Auerbach. “The COVID-19 crisis shows that we have much more work to do to protect Americans from health threats, particularly in the ways in which structural racism create and exacerbate health risks within communities of color. States need to take aggressive steps to shore up their preparedness for all types of public health emergencies.”