HJNO Jan/Feb 2022

40 JAN / FEB 2022 I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF NEW ORLEANS LDH CORNER cover five years of improving health in Louisiana. To get a sense of where this plan is head- ed, the Bureau of Media and Communica- tions’ Elizabeth Bueche and Kevin Litten had conversations with two Office of Public Health staff who are responsible for coordi- nating the State Health Improvement Plan and bringing it into existence next year: Bu- reau of Planning and Performance Director Katherine Cain and Deputy Director Robert Hines. The interview below has been condensed and edited for length and clarity. BUREAU OF MEDIA AND COMMUNICATIONS Why are the State HealthAssessment and the State Health Improvement Plan so import- ant? CAIN The Louisiana Department of Health created the State Health Assessment to educate folks on the overall health status of Louisianans in one package. The State Health Assessment paints a picture of the health of Louisianans, so we can have an overview of what the biggest health issues are across the state and, importantly, what health inequities are present. When you are In 2021, the Louisiana Department of Health was busy at work finishing the State Health Assessment, which serves as a re- port card on the health of Louisiana res- idents across our state. Completing this moves us to the final step of a two-part process: the creation of the State Health Improvement Plan. The last State Health Improvement Plan was completed in 2016, a year in which Governor John Bel Edwards expanded Medicaid to hundreds of thou- sands of adults who did not have access to health insurance. This State Health Improvement Plan, which is slated for completion by summer of 2022, will come amid an unprecedent- ed event — an ongoing, first-in-a-century, global pandemic. As the department con- tinues to respond to the COVID-19 cri- sis, #TeamLDH is working on long-term solutions to some of the most persistent health-related problems in our state. On Nov. 1, LDH Secretary Courtney N. Phillips, PhD, released the department’s business plan, which outlines a series of ambitious goals the department is working to fulfill by the end of the fiscal year, on June 30. We encourage you to read this plan online at ldh.la.gov/businessplan. The State Health Improvement Plan will COLUMN LDH CORNER Q&A with Bureau of Planning and Performance Director Katherine Cain and Deputy Director Robert Hines How LDH is Engaging Louisiana Residents to Plan for a Healthier 2022 and Beyond Katherine L. Cain, MPH Director of the Bureau of Planning and Performance Louisiana Department of Health’s Office of Public Health looking at health issues, you need to look at not just overall rates, but you also need to dig a little deeper and look at situations where some groups are more heavily af- fected by certain health conditions or soci- etal conditions than other groups. You can view it at www.LouisianaSHA.com . The State Health Improvement Plan will be a strategic plan for our communities based on the data from the State Health Assessment and based on what community members perceive to be the largest threats to their health. The State Health Improve- ment Plan is meant to be a shared plan, because these health issues that Louisiana faces are huge. State agencies, community organizations, nonprofits and private cor- porations all have to work together to really make a difference. BMAC Can you talk about where we are in the process and what to look for in 2022? CAIN We published the State Health Assess- ment dashboard in March 2021 at www. LouisianaSHA.com, and we are about to enhance the dashboard to include what we have heard from folks about their experi- ences with health. In summer 2021, we had a series of vir-