$30M sent to Kansas by CDC to improve health departments
ATLANTA, GA (KSNT) - The state of Kansas is set to receive more than $30 million from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as part of a national effort to promote and protect health in U.S. communities.
The CDC announced that $3.2 billion will be distributed across the U.S. and its territories to assist state, local and territorial jurisdictions strengthen their public health workforce and infrastructure. The funding is the first-of-its-kind as it provides awards directly to health departments to help the people, services and systems necessary for protecting the health of local communities.
“State, local and territorial health departments are the heart of the U.S. public health system, and the COVID-19 pandemic severely stressed these agencies, which were already weakened by neglect and underinvestment,” said CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, M.D., M.P.H. “This grant gives these agencies critical funding and flexibility to build and reinforce the nation’s public health workforce and infrastructure, and protect the populations they serve. We are meeting them where they are and trusting them to know what works best for their communities.”
Kansas is estimated to receive $33,081,754 from the CDC to improve its public health workforce and infrastructure. The City of Kansas City Health Department will also receive $8,777,842.
The $3.2 billion includes $3 billion from the American Rescue Plan Act for jurisdictions to recruit, retain and train their workforce, including critical frontline public health workers. The funding also includes $140 million from a new appropriation for jurisdictions to strengthen and revitalize their public health infrastructure.
The CDC says that stronger infrastructure allows public health to ensure food and water is safe, detect and track diseases, stop outbreaks, provide child and maternal healthcare and monitor data. Continued investments will strengthen the national public health workforce and infrastructure, supporting a public health system that is prepared to respond to any future health threat, according to the CDC.
To find more information about this award money from the CDC, go to their website here.