The Indiana Philanthropy Alliance’s Health Disparity Collaborative, co-chaired by St. Joe Foundation Executive Director Meg Distler, recently hosted an online meeting to learn more about the Governor’s Public Health Commission Recommendations.

The commission’s report recommends more than $240 million for improvements in Indiana’s public health system. That’s the funding needed to bring Indiana’s public health spending up to the national average of $91 per person/per year; Indiana currently spends $55 per person/per year. The commission’s report (in.gov/gphc) released in July 2022 focuses on six workstreams: funding; governance, infrastructure, and services; emergency preparedness; workforce; data and information integration; and childhood and adolescent health. The report comes as lawmakers prepare for the 2023 budget session, where legislators will create the state’s two-year budget.

The meeting featured Indiana State Health Commissioner Dr. Kristina Box, former Indiana State Senator Luke Kenley, and President/CEO of the CDC Foundation Dr. Judith Monroe.

The IPA Health Disparity Collaborative convenes funders with public officials, business leaders, researchers, and additional stakeholders interested in addressing health outcomes, health disparities, and behavioral health issues in communities across Indiana through a disparity lens. 

The collaborative is co-chaired by Distler and Paul Halverson, DrPH, FACHE, professor and founding dean of Indiana University’s Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health. 

To watch the recent meeting about the Public Health Commission’s recommendations, visit: https://www.inphilanthropy.org/resources/all-member-call-governors-public-health-commission-recommendations.