Anderson Herald Bulletin
As they worked to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, Indiana public health officials came to a realization.
The state’s public health system needs an upgrade.
To that end, Gov. Eric Holcomb issued an executive order in August 2021 establishing the Governor’s Public Health Commission.
That order pointed out that while the state’s public health system had evolved through the years, the statutes governing that structure had not been updated significantly in more than 30 years.
In pursuit of its mission, the commission launched a series of listening sessions around the state to gather input about Indiana’s public health system, and it has been meeting monthly to learn more about the challenges confronting public health professionals in Indiana.
The 15-member commission is co-chaired by former State Health Commissioner Dr. Judy Monroe, now president and CEO of the foundation supporting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Luke Kenley, a former state senator.
Current State Health Commissioner Dr. Kris Box is the commission’s secretary, and former U.S. Rep. Susan Brooks is a nonvoting citizen adviser.
The need for this commission is obvious. Indiana, with its lower life expectancies and higher health care costs, ranks 41st in the nation in the most recent assessment of public health measures.
In addition to analyzing the performance of the public health system in the current pandemic, the commission is charged with finding ways to improve the response to future such emergencies.
At its most recent meeting, the commission heard about the challenges facing the state’s ambulance services.
In 2020, Indiana ambulances had roughly 1.25 million emergency calls compared with 750,000 in 2018. Over the same period, the number of ambulances operating statewide actually dropped from 2,000 to just under 1,800.
The number of licensed paramedics, meanwhile, declined from 4,900 to 4,600, and the number of licensed emergency medical technicians fell from 14,000 to 13,000.
For rural counties, the declining numbers can make responding to emergency calls a challenge. A county with two ambulances and no hospital loses half of its fleet for one hospital trip.
The commission will meet at least three more times to finalize recommendations on the various challenges confronting the state’s public health system. Addressing these issues should be the top priority in next year’s session of the General Assembly.
There can be no greater priority for our elected representatives than the public health.
