Public health leaders emphasized the need for stronger collaboration, particularly between health care and public health, as well as with new and unlikely partners, during the APHA 2024 Closing Session, “Partnering to Make Health a Top Priority for Our Nation,” on Wednesday.

Before the panel discussion, APHA Incoming President Deanna J. Wathington took the ceremonial gavel from Outgoing President Ella Greene-Moton. Wathington is a public health practitioner and family physician with more than 30 years of practice and academic experience. Her work emphasizes collaboration across multiple sectors to address and optimize community health. She is the clinical director at REACHUP, a public health nonprofit in Tampa, Florida, and an affiliate professor in the University of South Florida College of Public Health. 

“I am so very humbled and honored to be here with you and to be stepping into this esteemed role where I have the opportunity to be a representative voice for this incredible and wonderful organization,” Wathington said. 

As someone whose career has been built around collaborations, Wathington challenged public health professionals to step out of their siloes and look for new and different partners. As president, Wathington said she will continue to focus on a few key areas that have long been important to her: advocating for reproductive justice, rethinking funding strategies to make public health more sustainable, and attracting new professionals to the field. 

She acknowledged that the hard work of public health can feel overwhelming at times. 

“Even we become weary in that persistent need for resilience. … What keeps us going? I say it’s our resolve,” she said.

She encouraged the audience to not let the division in the country infiltrate their ranks. “We are the role models. We are the protectors. We are the builders. We are the invisible shield.”

Collaborating to advocate for policy and improve public health

The idea that policy “is not for the faint of heart” came up a couple of times in the panel discussion, which featured physicians who work in public health. But partnerships — as Wathington stressed — to advocate for public health policies are vital to continue to improve the health of communities. 

Panelist J. Nadine Gracia, president and CEO at Trust for America’s Health, illustrated this call to action with a story from her time in federal government. During the Obama administration, Gracia was director of the Office of Minority Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. She provided leadership on administration priorities, including the Affordable Care Act.  

Her office worked closely with promotoras de salud, who are trusted health educators in Spanish-speaking communities. These individuals dispelled misinformation and myths about ACA and helped people sign up for health insurance, Gracia explained. 

The ACA example illustrates how partnerships can inform and support policy efforts, Gracia said. Public health workers know all too well that money increases during emergencies like the COVID-19 pandemic but falls during prevention phases. But strong collaborations can bolster efforts to gain support from lawmakers.  

“Our charge is how we maintain these (programs) and hold policymakers accountable — that it’s not enough to fund this and do this in times of emergency but that we have to do this in the non-emergency times as well,” she said. 

However, current barriers in public health go beyond the need for sustainable funding. They include protecting the scientific integrity and the scope of work of agencies and improving trust in public health, panelists said. 

“When we remove public health authorities, or weaken those authorities, we put communities at risk; we put the nation at risk,” Gracia said. “So, how we articulate that and what resonates with our policymakers is going to be critically important — regardless of the outcome of the (Nov. 5) election.”

Bechara Choucair, executive vice president and chief health officer at Kaiser Permanente, encouraged collaborations that can bring health care and public health closer.

“When emergencies happen, public health and health care strengthen the bridges they have, stand up and try to work together as much as they can,” Choucair said. “And then, unfortunately, even after this most recent pandemic subsided, we start seeing these disciplines go back to their siloes.”

He said that challenge led to the creation of the Common Health Coalition, which aims to reimagine the nation’s health system into one in which health care and public health systems work together. The Coalition strives to advance the vision of better collaboration to support public health in four main areas: coordination between health care and public health, always-on emergency preparedness, real-time disease detection, and exchange of actionable data, particularly to advance equity. 

Choucair encouraged the audience to stay focused on policy and continue to build bridges. 

“Partnerships is about being in spaces that make you a little bit uncomfortable,” he said. “It’s coming to tables that you’re not used to being at; it’s coming to those tables with a lot of humility … and curiosity. And it’s OK to be uncomfortable at those tables. … Embrace that level of discomfort and that will make a big difference.” 

Virginia Caine, director and chief medical officer of the Marion County Public Health Department  in Indianapolis, implored APHA attendees to remember that “just one person can make a difference.”

“When you look at this audience … what an incredible army we have of people who are passionate, who care about the job that they do,” she said. 

Photos: APHA President Deanna J. Wathington; J. Nadine Gracia and Bechara Choucair. Photos courtesy EZ Event Photography.