Mission:

To protect, maintain and improve the health of all Minnesotans..

Statewide Outcome(s):

The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) supports the following statewide outcome(s).

Minnesotans are healthy.

Strong and stable families and communities.

People in Minnesota are safe.

A clean, healthy environment with sustainable uses of natural resources.

Efficient and accountable government services.

Context:

MDH is the state’s lead public health agency, responsible for operating programs that prevent infectious and chronic diseases and promote clean water, safe food, quality health care and healthy living. The department also plays a significant role in making sure that Minnesota is ready to effectively respond to serious emergencies, such as natural disasters, emerging disease threats and terrorism. The department carries out its mission in close partnership with local public health departments, tribal governments, the federal government, foreign countries and many health-related organizations. The department’s priorities are to make Minnesota a place where communities support healthy living, and the health system is prepared to prevent poor health as well as to treat illness. Advancing those priorities requires enhancing public health capacity at the state and local levels, eliminating the significant disparities in health between different racial and cultural groups, giving children a healthy start in life, and adopting health reforms that focus on prevention and primary care as well as a better integration of medical care, public health and other needed services.

Much of Minnesota’s state and local public health services are funded by the federal government. More than half of MDH funding comes from federal sources. Less than one-fifth of the budget for MDH is supported by state tax dollars through the general fund, the cigarette tax, or the health care access fund. The remaining budget comes from private grants and fees for licenses and inspections.

 

Strategies:

MDH’s Strategic Plan has six framework goals which focus on preventing health problems before they occur. Embedded in each strategy is the overarching goal of eliminating health disparities and achieving health equity.

·        Prevent the occurrence and spread of diseases: to ensure that individuals and organizations in Minnesota understand how to prevent diseases and practice disease prevention and disease threats are swiftly detected and contained.

·        Prepare for and respond to disasters and emergencies: to ensure that emergencies are rapidly identified and evaluated, resources for emergency response are readily mobilized and Minnesota’s emergency planning and response protects and restores health.

·        Make physical environments safe and healthy: to ensure that Minnesotans’ food and drinking water is safe, Minnesota’s air, water and soils are safe and non-toxic, and the built environment in Minnesota supports safe and healthy living for all.

·        Help all people get quality health care services: to ensure that health care in Minnesota is safe, family and patient-centered, effective and coordinated; that health care services are available throughout Minnesota and that all Minnesotans have affordable coverage for the health care they need.

·        Promote health throughout the lifespan: to ensure that all Minnesotans are given a healthy start in life, Minnesotans make healthy choices and Minnesotans create social environments that support safe and healthy living at all ages.

·        Assure strong systems for health: to ensure that Minnesota’s infrastructure for health is strong, people-centered and continues to improve, that Minnesota’s health systems are transparent, accountable and engage many diverse partners and that government policies and programs support health.

More information about these framework goals can be found at: http://www.health.state.mn.us/about/goals.pdf

Measuring Success:

MDH first identifies high priority health issues by measuring health outcomes for the entire population and for targeted subgroups. Then, MDH uses scientific data and methods available to guide programs and policies that most effectively promote the health of all Minnesotans. By relying on evidence-based strategies, MDH can generate the greatest return on the state’s investment in public health.

The significant return on investment for public health programs is well-documented. The average lifespan of persons in the United States has increased by more than 30 years since 1900, and 25 years of this gain is attributable to advances in public health. Further, a person’s health is largely determined by healthy behaviors (50 percent), genetics (20 percent), the environment (20 percent), and access to appropriate care (ten percent). Yet, 88 percent of our national health-related expenditures are targeted at medical services and only four percent is targeted at supporting healthy behaviors. Compared to other industrialized countries, the United States spends twice the per capita average on health care yet lags behind other countries in life expectancy and productivity loss. Therefore, targeting investments more toward programs that promote healthy behaviors, reduce environmental health risks, and improve access to quality health care will yield the highest impact on Minnesotans' health.

Each program at MDH measures specific health outcomes for Minnesotans and the effectiveness of MDH’s efforts to improve those outcomes. In addition, there are a few composite measures that show whether Minnesotans’ overall health is improving. For example:

·        Minnesota has long been considered one of the healthiest states in the nation, but the state’s health ranking has been falling relative to other states in recent years. Minnesota was consistently first or second in the nation for overall health from 1999 to 2006, but the state’s ranking has dropped steadily since then, landing at sixth place in 2011. Minnesota’s ranking is dropping because of declines in the factors that predict future health outcomes, such as obesity, poverty, and immunization rates—which means the state’s overall health ranking can be expected to decline further in the future without major interventions (America’s Health Rankings, United Health Foundation, 2011).

·        Between 2010 and 2012, Hennepin County’s health outcomes ranking dropped from 52^nd to 42^nd and Dakota County’s health factors ranking dropped from second to sixth relative to other Minnesota counties, demonstrating that some of our largest and most diverse counties are struggling to keep pace with demographic shifts and factors like obesity and lack of physical activity, which lead to a variety of poor health outcomes (County Health Rankings, University of Wisconsin, 2012).

Although these measures do not reflect the diversity of public health issues and programming, and many factors affecting health are outside the control of MDH and its partners, these measures are still a useful gauge of whether Minnesota is moving in the right direction. These measures reflect that while significant progress has been made, significant challenges remain in improving the health of all Minnesotans.