FEATURE
I think it is our responsibility to let people know what we are doing . So when they were coming into our laboratory , we took the opportunity to showcase all different aspects of our public health laboratory services .”
Lixia Liu , PhD , MP ( ASCP ), D ( ABMM ) funding . However , after that , that is a huge expense . So , being able to keep up that will be a challenge for us .”
Leslie Wolf , PhD , HCLD ( ABB ), director of the Louisville Metro Public Health and Wellness Laboratory in Kentucky , said she cannot justify keeping the maintenance agreements on all the new equipment now that the COVID-19 testing demand is so low . “ We ’ ve kept it on the ones that we know we ’ ll use for other purposes ,” she said . That includes the new automated high-throughput nucleic acid purification machines that they use to test mosquitoes for diseases .
But other equipment is not being used . In addition , Wolf has learned some manufacturers are replacing equipment with newer versions . And even equipment that is state-of-the-art today might be antiquated or obsolete when needed for the next outbreak or pandemic . “ I thought I was planning for sustainability and future use , but it didn ’ t quite go that way ,” she said .
Wolf has seen this boom-and-bust cycle plenty of times , unfortunately . “ I ’ ve been in the field of public health , primarily in infectious diseases , since 1997 , and I ’ ve seen it happen so many times , that a lot of money is thrown at the disease of the day ,” she said . “ It seems that for many of our governing bodies , the memories are short . I saw us go through that with TB in the ’ 80s : ‘ Oh , we ’ ve solved TB ; it ’ s not a problem .’ And so , funding was severely cut and then cases started coming back .”
Wolf can name several other infectious diseases where she saw this cycle of successful public health initiatives , then funding cuts , then disease return : syphilis , HIV , West Nile virus , Zika . there was a time to advocate for public health funds , this was it .
In Indiana , Liu is thankful for the support public health receives from state lawmakers . Republican Governor Eric Holcomb created a Public Health Commission in 2021 to study Indiana ’ s public health challenges and successes . In 2023 , Holcomb rallied support in the Republican-led Legislature to increase funding to local health departments in Indiana by 1,500 percent , according to a 2023 Politico article .
To keep the funding coming , it will be important for public health leaders to explain their successes and needs . While Liu was not a member of the Commission , she said she is not shy about telling health department leaders what the laboratory needs . In 2023 , Liu ’ s team gave a laboratory tour to the governor and his cabinet members . “ He was so impressed by what we do in the laboratory , and he also had the staff in his office come in for another tour .”
Word got around , and in March 2024 , the health department ’ s executive board — which includes physicians , hospital administrators , a veterinarian , a nurse , a dentist and a pharmacist — came in for a tour .
“ A lot of people outside of a public health laboratory really do not know much about it ,” Liu said . “ I think it is our responsibility to let people know what we are doing . So when they were coming into our laboratory , we took the opportunity to showcase all different aspects of our public health laboratory services .”
As the team explained the functions of the six laboratory divisions , Liu said it was important that they illustrated how those services could help improve the health of Hoosiers across the state . “ We try to use real-life stories to connect our testing to the health of the community ,” she said .
Even as federal funding recedes , laboratories have stories and data and evidence that they can use to advocate for sustained state and federal public health funding .
“ COVID-19 enabled us to demonstrate what we can do when those funding barriers are removed ,” said Levinson in Tennessee . “ You can throw money at a problem , and we can show you what we can do with it . And , we can do a lot ; we can make significant progress in a short amount of time and really show what it takes to make a public health laboratory even more effective .” g
Data and Stories Used for Advocacy
When the pandemic started , public health laboratories received the brightest spotlight in years . Many in the public never even thought of laboratories before , let alone wondered what they did . If ever
18 LAB MATTERS Summer 2024
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