Mark Bennett: State funds for public health will improve life in Indiana counties

Aug. 25—If this community had stronger tools to prevent cancer, heart ailments, respiratory diseases, addictions, mental health issues and accidents, the quality of life improve.

The economy throughout the Terre Haute region would be more productive, too.

Vigo Countians have struggled with poor health compared to the rest of Indiana and nation, and that's been true for years. Insurance costs and lost productivity burden the economy. Worse yet, families lose loved ones too early or feel the harsh consequences of their health problems.

Premature deaths — those occurring under age 75 — cost Vigo residents a total of 9,200 years of lost life, according to data from 2018 to 2020 in this year's County Health Rankings and Roadmaps by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

That's why a long-overdue increase in public health funding in Indiana is so important.

Governor Eric Holcomb's Public Health Commission spent more than year studying the status and needs of the state's public health delivery system, largely through county health departments, and called for several changes, including a significant increase in funding to those local agencies. That push came in the wake of the worst public health crisis in a century, the COVID-19 pandemic. And though the Indiana General Assembly didn't commit as large an amount as Holcomb's commission recommended, lawmakers did approve $225 million for county health departments though the next two years.

Counties have to commit local matching funds to receive the state funds. As of Wednesday, county commissioners in 85 of Indiana's 92 counties had opted into the state program, the Indiana Capital Chronicle reported. The deadline for counties to opt in is Sept. 1.

Vigo County commissioners wisely voted earlier this month to accept the state public health funding. As a result, Vigo could receive between $1.23 million and $1.65 million in 2024, and between $2.47 million and $3.29 million in 2024. The matching funds requirement means Vigo will commit an extra $400,000 for public health.

Once legislators dealt with some concerns of some commissioners about the program, Vigo County Commissioner Chris Switzer said, "For me [opting into the program] was fairly obvious."

He added, "You see the benefit being way bigger than the expense."

Vigo ranks 63rd — in the lower third of Indiana counties — in overall health and even worse for its health factors and behaviors, which include high rates of smoking. The situation is chronic here and isn't a mystery.

"We definitely know we're at the bottom of the state health outcomes," Switzer said Friday, "and we know we have to do better."

On top of that, Indiana — as a state — ranks third lowest in the U.S. in per-person public health funding, according to the American Public Health Association.

The new state public health funding law, Senate Bill 4, calls for county health departments to provide or collaborate with other organizations on numerous core services. Vigo County's health department already provides many of those core services, but the added funding will allow for enhancements to those services and more tools for collaborations on additional services, said Joni Wise, the health department's administrator.

Such resources also allows the health department to assist in the community's efforts to address high incarceration rates, mental health issues and family issues, Wise said.

Added funding also will improve the pay for health department employees. "We can't compete with the public sector and have a hard time keeping people in those roles," Wise said.

One example of new opportunities created by the boosted state funding would involve the health department hiring a social worker to partner with the county courts and community corrections to help direct troubled people to necessary services, such as Next Step — a Terre Haute residential community for recovery of addictions.

"That's a genius idea, and a great way to improve the community," Switzer said, praising the initiative by Wise and the health department.

"This is something that's near and dear to my heart," Switzer said, explaining that he has an incarcerated relative that struggles with addictions.

Counties surrounding Vigo also have opted into the state's public health funding program. Parke County commissioners voted Tuesday to accept the funding, said Commissioner Jim Meece. The opportunity to improve residents' health through new or enhanced services enabled by the state funding — of at least $199,042 in 2024 and $398,085 in 2025 — is worth the outlay of an extra $25,000 or so from Parke County local matching funds, Meece said.

"The question was, do you want to pay more money to get this benefit? And the answer was yes," said Meece, now in his 21st year as a commissioner.

Though Parke County fares better than Vigo in the overall County Health Rankings, its rates of smoking and obesity are worse than even Vigo's poor statistics. Suicides are a problem in Parke, as well, Meece said.

"So if we could get those under control, that would be a great part of this," Meece said, while also praising the abilities of the county health department.

Added and enhanced public health resources — especially in a rural county with no hospital, but with a skilled county ambulance service, according to Meece — will help Parke maintain a healthier workforce, stabilize insurance costs and treat an aging population. The average Parke Countian is 41.5 years old, more than three years older than the average Hoosier's age of 38.1.

"All of that is going to help," Meece said.

As the past few years have taught us, good health is valuable and precious.

Mark Bennett can be reached at 812-231-4377 or mark.bennett@tribstar.com.