Happy National Public Health Week! Local governments are positioned to play a valuable role in public health awareness, infrastructure, and services. ICMA understands that in a time of fiscal constraints, local governments may need to share services to maintain or broaden service delivery. While public health issues are not confined to city or county lines, fortunately shared administrative services can aid in a time of limited resources to maximize regional impact.

In 2014, with financial support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation through the Center for Sharing Public Health Services (CSPHS) at the Kansas Health Institute, ICMA conducted a national study of the types of shared services arrangements for administrative services that exist among local government public health offices. In addition to a national survey, ICMA co-produced with CSPHS three in-depth case studies of jurisdictions that had adopted such practices.

The three in-depth case studies investigate an intergovernmental agreement that governs how Prowers County, Colorado provides public health administrative services to neighboring Kiowa County, Colorado; a regional public health district formed by 10 towns in eastern Connecticut, the largest of which provides considerable administrative services through a long-term service agreement; and a five-county public health district that provides all administrative and program services for the participating counties.

The study was an opportunity to explore and learn how such agreements worked in reality; learn more about ICMA’s insights into Public Health Shared Administrative Services and how your community can benefit from similar approaches.