Eastern District NCPHA

Message from the President

In the spring, our 65th Annual Conference brought together over 170 public health leaders, practitioners, and community advocates. The sessions were as dynamic as they were urgent, emphasizing the shifts needed in our systems and approaches. It let us emphasize the importance of our work. Our group sessions and Section programs worked together to show that engagement is a foundational metric. Speakers underscored the importance of genuine, sustained community engagement—measured not by attendance, but by influence and trust. We value what matters. Panelists called for shifting evaluation metrics from activities (e.g., number of outreach events) to impact (e.g., improved health equity indicators). This reinforced that we use data for good and not just for growth. Presentations explored how disaggregated data can help identify gaps and design targeted, just interventions. Additional steps were taken to intersect public health and mental health/wellness in our population and workforce.  Resilience is a blessing. Most importantly, cross-sectoral collaborations from housing and transportation to education and tech demonstrated that partnerships drive systems-level change for substance-use disorder, maternal health, and funding. Now let us look ahead.

Participants at the Annual Conference hopefully left with a renewed sense of purpose and momentum. We do great work. Join us for our first fall forum which will be a one-day virtual event in October.
The upcoming event is intended to serve a specific niche—bringing together creative staff from local health departments across the state to explore a timely and practical topic: budgets. This fall conference day would focus more on peer learning and practical guidance. The goal is to produce a space for sharing insights, not diving into complex budget theory. Watch out for registration info.

Respectfully submitted,

Victoria Hudson