Contact: Brad Lifford
March 6, 2013
Tennessee Institute of Public Health receives grant from National Network of Public Health Institutes
JOHNSON CITY The Tennessee Institute of Public Health (TNIPH), housed at the East Tennessee State University College of Public Health, has been awarded grant funding by the National Network of Public Health Institutes to incorporate a "rural health summit" into the statewide rural development conference held each year by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
TNIPH is one of only three organizations nationwide to receive funding from the "Improving
the Public's Health through Strategic Partnerships and Action" grant program. It is
made possible by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF).
The 18th annual USDA Rural Development Conference, being held April 10-11 in Cookeville,
will draw together leaders in education, government, business and health care from
throughout Tennessee. The funding grant will enable TNIPH to collaborate with the
USDA and other partners during the conference to promote strategies that will aid
economic development through a healthier workforce.
TNIPH will focus specifically on increasing awareness of the County Health Rankings
& Roadmaps program as an economic development tool. A joint project of RWJF and the
University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, the County Health Rankings are
published every spring and rank the health of almost every county in the United States.
The rankings look at a wide spectrum of measures that affect health such as access
to primary health care, access to healthier foods, air pollution levels, rates of
smoking, obesity and teen births to help counties understand what influences the
health of residents and how long they will live. The 2013 County Health Rankings will
be released March 20.
Ginny Kidwell, program director of TNIPH, said the grant will be helpful in emphasizing
the critical message that public health, education and economic development are all
integral and closely-related components of success. TNIPH co-hosted regional health
forums last year in all three geographic regions of the Volunteer State.
"A careful review of the rankings each year shows that the majority of Tennessee counties
that are in the lower half of the rankings are in rural parts of the state," Kidwell
said. "Serving as a co-sponsor of the USDA Rural Development Conference will enable
the Tennessee Institute of Public Health to collaborate with a broad range of leaders
at the grassroots level. Our focus will be working with rural community leaders to
educate them about the County Health Rankings and ways they can take action toward
improving health.
"There is no better economic development tool than a healthy and well-educated workforce."
Dr. Randy Wykoff, executive director of TNIPH, agreed.
"Increasingly, businesses are recognizing that an investment in health and wellness
increases productivity, enhances employee satisfaction, and, above all, is a positive
return on investment," Wykoff said.
TNIPH is a legislatively-mandated, statewide convener of organizations, agencies and
groups that builds and fosters the collaborations necessary to improve the public's
health. The institute is on the Web at https://www.etsu.edu/tniph/.
