Overview

Kentucky (officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky) is in the Southeastern region of the United States and has a population of 4.5 million people. The Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services is a superagency with a Department for Public Health and has a mixed relationship with local health departments in the state. Kentucky aims to improve the health and safety of people in Kentucky through prevention, promotion, and protection.

Public health transformation is not only important but necessary in redefining public health’s role to acknowledge the social determinants of health and work collaboratively to remove barriers so individuals, families, and communities can achieve optimal health.]

Key Highlights

With the passage of House Bill 129, public health transformation became law in 2020 and led to statutory amendments that categorized public health programs (KRS 211.185), emphasized local needs assessments (KRS 211.187), and established a new funding formula for local health departments (KRS 211.186).

It has been determined that it will take 3 full-time equivalents (FTEs) per 15,000 population (with an additional FTE per 5,000 population) to do this work, and the current cost per FTE is $109,000. This cost must be recalculated each two-year state budget cycle.

A transformation project team was named to manage the statewide planning initiative, including the revision of a strategic plan. Under the guidance of the project team, with assistance and commitment of Performance Management and Quality Improvement staff, it was determined that public health transformation would develop and promote initiatives necessary to advance the comprehensive overhaul of the state public health system.

Legislation and Advocacy

In 2020, public health transformation became law in Kentucky with the passage of House Bill 129 and led to statutory amendments that categorized public health programs (KRS 211.185), emphasized local needs assessments (KRS 211.187), and established a new funding formula for local health departments (KRS 211.186).