POLICY
FOUNDATIONAL PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICES
Providing public health services is a shared state and local responsibility. Some public health services are so critical that they must be provided to every resident. Other public health needs may be unique to certain regions of our state, so each community determines and implements local priorities. The Foundational Public Health Services (FPHS) model ensures all residents can depend on a core set of services that only governmental public health can provide.
Support Foundational Public Health Services funding for local health jurisdictions to ensure that the system can respond to public health threats.
THE PROBLEM
After a century of effectively preventing illness and premature death and increasing the length and quality of life in Washington communities, the public health system has become woefully inadequate and is now unable to meet its basic responsibilities to protect the health and safety of people in Washington State.
Providing public health services is a shared state and local responsibility. Some public health services are so critical that they must be provided to every resident. Other public health needs may be unique to certain regions of our state, so each community determines and implements these local priorities. The Foundation Public Health Services (FPHS) model ensures all residents can depend on a core set of services that only the governmental public health system can provide.
GOVERNMENTAL PUBLIC HEALTH SYSTEM
THE SOLUTION
To rebuild, modernize and fund a 21st century public health system in Washington these are needed:
- A statewide set of core public health services, called Foundational Public Health Services (FPHS), that government is responsible for providing.
- Core public health services are funded through dedicated revenues that are predictable, reliable and sustainable, and responsive to changes in demand and cost over time.
- Governmental public health services are delivered in ways that maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of the overall system.
- Governmental public health activities are tracked and performance is evaluated using evidence-based measures.
- Local revenue generating options are provided to address locally driven priorities that are targeted to specific community problems.
GENERAL POLICY RESOURCES
FPHS RESOURCES
FOUNDATIONAL PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICES ARE CRITICAL
- Crucial Help for Rural Counties
- Addressing Health and Safety Infrastructure
- Protecting Communities from Hazardous Lead Exposure
- Safeguarding the Community’s Health
- Disease Outbreak Response Strains other Essential Services
- Working Together to Protect Communities from Tuberculosis
- Timely Investigation and Response from the Threat of Hepatitis C