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Local Health Departments’ Involvement In Hospitals’ Implementation Plans, Simone Singh, Erik Carlton

Frontiers in Public Health Services and Systems Research

Background: More than half of all local health departments (LHDs) in the U.S. are involved in collaborations with nonprofit hospitals on a community health needs assessment (CHNA), yet little is known about the role that LHDs play in hospitals’ implementation plans.

Purpose: This study aims to explore the current state of hospital–LHD collaborations around the implementation plan using data from a survey of LHDs across the country.

Methods: The study sample included 457 LHDs that completed both the 2015 Forces of Change survey and the 2013 Profile survey conducted by the National Association of County and City Health Officials. Univariate …

A Tool To Cost Environmental Health Services In North Carolina Local Health Departments, Nancy L. Winterbauer, Simone Singh, Ashley Tucker, Lisa M. Harrison

Frontiers in Public Health Services and Systems Research

Introduction: The cost of providing a basic set of public health services necessary not been well-described. Recent work suggests public health practitioners are unlikely to have the empirically-based financing information necessary to make informed decisions regarding practice. The purpose of this paper is to describe the development of a costing tool used to collect primary data on the number of services provided, staff employed, and costs incurred for two types of mandated environmental health services: food and lodging inspections and onsite water services.

Methods: The tool was iteratively reviewed, revised, and piloted with local health department (LHD) environmental health and …

Local Health Department Clinical Service Delivery Along The Urban/Rural Continuum, Kate E. Beatty, Nathan Hale, Michael Meit, Paula Masters, Amal Khoury

Frontiers in Public Health Services and Systems Research

Background: Engagement in the core public health functions and ten essential services remains the standard for measuring local health department (LHD) performance; their role as providers of clinical services remains uncertain, particularly in rural and underserved communities.

Purpose: To examine the role of LHDs as clinical service providers and how this role varies among rural and nonrural communities.

Methods: The 2013 National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) Profile was used to examine the geographic distribution of clinical service provision among LHDs. LHDs were coded as urban, large rural, or small rural based on Rural/Urban Commuting …