MMA webinar covers local public health, SAPHE 2.0

The MMA hosted a webinar with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health on Dec. 17 covering the State Action for Public Health Excellence (SAPHE 2.0) program.

Samuel Wong, director of the Department of Public Health’s Office of Local and Regional Health, provided background on local public health in Massachusetts.

All 351 cities and towns have their own board of health, and Massachusetts has more local public health jurisdictions than any other state. Because of that, Wong said, “Our state’s public health system and municipal leaders must work closely together for our Commonwealth to have a comprehensive public health system to serve our residents.”

SAPHE 2.0, enacted in November 2024, promises to work to create an equitable local public health system in the state through cross-jurisdictional service sharing, a unified data solution, a highly skilled and trained workforce, and a set of performance standards.

SAPHE 2.0 outlines the need for a new and more modern reporting system. The DPH says it has designed Metrik to be a comprehensive public health workforce solution.

Aimee Petrosky, director of performance standards and data systems in the Office of Local and Regional Health, gave an overview of Metrik. She said the platform will “boost equity across the state by giving each municipality access to the same high-quality reporting tools, providing increased access to timely, consistent data to facilitate better public health outcomes.” She said it also “allows municipal leaders to be more responsive to residents and local businesses.”

Wong and Petrosky moderated 15 minutes of questions and answers, addressing inquiries regarding Metrik’s timeline, how the DPH is engaging with public health officials on these initiatives, and funding.

 

• Elevating Local Public Health With SAPHE 2.0 presentation (1M PDF)