Publications and resource documents

TRANSFORMING THE PUBLIC HEALTH SYSTEM IN MINNESOTA

The documents below are helpful to understand the work of transforming Minnesota's public health system.

On this page
Report to the Legislature
Framework
Infrastructure Fund
Reference points: Past SCHSAC/MDH reports that inform this work

Transforming Minnesota’s public health system for the 21st century: Report to the Legislature (PDF), December 2022. In the 2021 legislative session, the Minnesota Legislature allocated resources to support the first steps of public health system transformation. The bill language directed MDH to assess the current state of the governmental public health system, give grants to community health boards to test new models for public health service delivery, develop recommendations for long term system change, and report back to the Legislature in 2023. This progress report represents the shared analysis, action, and recommendations of MDH, SCHSAC, and LPHA.

A new framework for governmental public health in Minnesota (PDF), June 2019. This framework outlines what Minnesotans should expect from their state and local public health partnership, with a set of foundational public health responsibilities that are grounded by a core value: where you live should not determine your level of public health protection.

Funding public health in Minnesota: Strengthening our public health infrastructure (PDF), December 2021

• High-level overview of the Infrastructure Fund, a $6 million/year appropriation passed by the Minnesota Legislature in the 2020 legislative session
• Describes the purpose of the funds and the guiding principles developed by the Infrastructure Fund Workgroup to guide the fund distribution.
• Contact information for the key partners in this work

Infrastructure Fund priorities: Building capacity in communication, community partnerships, data and epidemiology, and health equity (PDF), December 2021

• Details on current priorities for Minnesota's Public Health Infrastructure Fund, a $6 million/year appropriation passed by the Minnesota Legislature in the 2020 legislative session
• Defines priority areas and refers to each area's related national standards

Infrastructure Fund Ad Hoc Advisory Group Charge and Membership (PDF), September 2021

• Charge and membership roster for the ad hoc advisory group that developed guidance and process for distributing the Infrastructure Fund

Strengthening Public Health Workgroup: Final report to the SCHSAC (PDF), May 2018, SCHSAC workgroup. This workgroup was formed by SCHSAC in response to mounting concerns about persistent resource constraints and wide variability among community health boards related to performance. The workgroup was asked to identify, examine and recommend a set of promising strategies to assure that: 1) basic local public health activities are in place in all parts of Minnesota; and 2) Minnesota's public health system is evolving to meet modern community health issues.

Strengthening Public Health in Minnesota Action Plan (PDF), September 2018, SCHSAC technical group. In response to SCHSAC approval of the above report and recommendations, MDH staff met several times with the SCHSAC Executive Committee, local public health members of the workgroup, and the Local Public Health Association to explore ways of moving the priorities for action forward.

From information to action: Using data to improve the public health system (PDF), December 2016, SCHSAC Performance Improvement Steering Committee. The Performance Improvement Steering Committee (Committee) is charged with monitoring and improving the performance of Minnesota's local public health system. Each year the Committee looks at performance data from community health boards on measures that were developed through national consensus and supported by SCHSAC. Despite focused effort, every year PISC has seen differences in the ability of community health boards to meet performance measures. This impacts local communities and strains the statewide system. Having a better understanding of the barriers community health boards face will help SCHSAC and PISC identify solutions that lead to a stronger more effective local public health system. In order to make further progress, PISC urges SCHSAC to take action to understand why community health boards are not able to meet measures and take action to address the identified barriers.

Advancing health equity in Minnesota: Report to the Legislature (PDF), February 2014, Minnesota Department of Health. Minnesota ranks, on average, among the healthiest states in the nation. But the averages do not tell the whole story. Too many people in Minnesota are not as healthy as they could and should be, and the health disparities that exist are significant, persistent and cannot be explained by bio-genetic factors. Minnesota has these disparities in health outcomes because the opportunity to be healthy is not equally available everywhere or for everyone in the state. The purpose of this report is to provide an overview of Minnesota's health disparities and health inequities, to identify as far as possible the inequitable conditions that produce health disparities, and to make recommendations to advance health equity in Minnesota.

Local health department practices to advance health equity (PDF), August 2016, SCHSAC workgroup. SCHSAC, recognizing that health equity is an urgent and compelling public health concern, charged the Advancing Health Equity Workgroup "to provide local elected officials and local public health leaders with the language, understanding, and practical help to advance health equity throughout Minnesota's public health system."

Updating Minnesota's Local Public Health Act: Ensuring the continued success of a strong public health system (PDF), January 2014, SCHSAC workgroup. In 2012, SCHSAC convened a two-day working session with 30 state and local stakeholders to analyze the current statute, now known as the Local Public Health Act (Minn. Stat. §145A). Working session participants recommended developing specific changes to the statutory language, in order to better reflect current public health practice (that is, keeping what works) and continue to strengthen the state's public health system (fostering continued success). The SCHSAC Local Public Health Act Workgroup was created to work with MDH to develop statutory language to reflect the 2012 working sessions, and to provide input and advice on implementing other high-priority actions via non-statutory means.

Updating Minnesota's blueprint for public health (PDF), December 2010, SCHSAC workgroup. In 2009, SCHSAC called for a work group to investigate the apparent increase in organizational and governance structure changes at the local level. Later the work group's scope was broadened to encompass a discussion about the foundations underpinning the local public health system and to update the blueprint for strong and successful local health departments.