Take As Directed

In 2021, Indiana Governor Holcomb launched the Public Health Review Commission, charged with asking hard questions that cover the waterfront of public health challenges in Indiana and delivering actionable answers this coming summer. Its co-chair, Dr. Judy Monroe, and its director, Indiana State Health Commissioner Dr. Kristina Box, joined us to share what this unusual and promising, fast-moving enterprise is all about. The challenge before Hoosiers is formidable: the state ranks 48th in the country in public health financing. The Commission is off to a quick start staging monthly public meetings and conducting listening tours across the state. It has created a website for public comment and staged outreach to businesses, schools, and universities. Any big surprises? Public health capacities vary enormously across the state – it is “eye-opening.” Indiana’s 49 rural counties especially struggle. Data systems are woeful and antiquated. In the current acutely politicized environment, the Commission is “well-posi