Public Health

Governors play an important role in improving health outcomes for their residents. With an emphasis on finding equitable solutions to some of the most pressing public health issues, governors establish partnerships, utilize state resources, and work across multiple sectors and state agencies to develop and promote relationships to improve public health. The Public Health team supports Governors on various public health topics, including public health infrastructure, chronic and infectious diseases, population health, maternal and child health, and rural health. In addition to providing timely and individualized state-focused technical assistance to governors, their health advisors, and state agency leadership, our team is working to aid governors and public health leaders in statewide transformation efforts to build and improve public health through transformation efforts.

Our Focus Areas 

  • Chronic Disease
  • COVID-19
  • Infectious Disease
  • Population Health

Meet the Team

  • Brittney Roy, Program Director
  • Michelle LeBlanc, Senior Policy Analyst, Health
  • Eden Moore, Public Health Associate
  • Taylor Shelton, Public Health Associate
  • Abigail Smith, Policy Coordinator

Learning Labs

NGA Public Health Library

Letter on Canadian - U.S. Border Restrictions

Letter on Canadian – U.S. Border Restrictions

At this point in the nation’s work to get the economy back on track, it is imperative that the federal government work more closely and transparently with us and our ...
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State Strategies to Prevent Type 2 Diabetes and Manage Diabetes

State Strategies to Prevent Type 2 Diabetes and Manage Diabetes

This issue brief includes key considerations regarding state strategies to address type 2 diabetes prevention and diabetes management. (View/Download) Introduction More than 34 million people in the United States—1 in ...
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COVID-19 Impacts on Justice-Involved Kids: Lessons Learned from States

COVID-19 Impacts on Justice-Involved Kids: Lessons Learned from States

This issue brief highlights lessons learned and several overarching strategies from 2020 COVID-19 pandemic response efforts that Governor’s offices and state officials can utilize to address this pandemic within the ...
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COVID-19 Vaccines and Emerging Viral Variants

COVID-19 Vaccines and Emerging Viral Variants

The brief addresses the effectiveness of existing and upcoming vaccines against emerging COVID-19 viral variants and provides considerations for Governors. (View/Download) Introduction Vaccines are critical tools that can reduce COVID-19 ...
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Promoting Outdoor Recreation Through Health Policy

Promoting Outdoor Recreation Through Health Policy

Park Rx programs are being adopted by a small group of physicians all over the country who are prescribing the outdoors along with other medicines to help patients relieve stress, ...
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Expanding Access to Medications for Opioid Use Disorder in Corrections and Community Settings

Expanding Access to Medications for Opioid Use Disorder in Corrections and Community Settings

This roadmap highlights existing state efforts and serves as a policy development tool for Governors and state officials seeking to improve coordination and bolster existing efforts across state agencies to ...
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COVID-19 Outbreaks: State Reporting By Setting

COVID-19 Outbreaks: State Reporting By Setting

This resource was developed to identify states that have defined and are reporting setting-specific outbreaks as of November 2020 and highlight promising examples that others can look to as they ...
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2021 State of the States Addresses

2021 State of the States Addresses

Playlist with clips from Governor State of the State addresses. Click here for links to full address text and video. View Full Playlist ...
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Maternal and Child Health Update 2020

Maternal and Child Health Update 2020

The Maternal and Child Health Update includes findings from a survey of senior state and territory health officials regarding MCH policy topics. Questions are modified from year to year to ...
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