Study: Idaho ill-prepared for health emergencies

Idaho and Alaska are the least prepared states in the nation in the event of a public health emergency, a new study found.

The report — “Ready or Not? Protecting the Public from Diseases, Disasters and Bioterrorism” — was released Tuesday by the nonprofit Trust for America’s Health and it examines the nation’s ability to respond to public health emergencies and tracks progress and vulnerabilities.

For each state, the report analyzed 10 indicators of public health preparedness including levels of funding, flu vaccination rates, climate change readiness, food safety and biosafety training. Idaho and Alaska each scored three of 10 points, the lowest scores among all states.

“In looking through the indicators, they change year to year,” said Lora Whalen, the director of Panhandle Health District. “We certainly have some areas, in conjunction with our partners at the state level, that we can improve on. But I’m very proud of our great partnerships within our community — with the county and our hospitals — that ensure readiness.”

Idaho scored one point because the state’s public health districts are accredited by the Public Health Accreditation Board. The state earned another point for its use of DNA fingerprinting to track foodborne illnesses like E. coli, and scored its third point for staffing a biosafety professional with the state’s public health laboratories.

“If you look at the 10 areas measured in the report, we’re doing work in all of them,” said Tom Shanahan, the public information manager for the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare. “The report is kind of a snapshot of preparedness, not a comprehensive look. We know there is room for improvement and we work toward that every day.”

Although other states received higher scores, Idaho and Alaska are among 26 states that received a six or lower on the public health preparedness report card.

Massachusetts scored the highest at 10 of 10, with North Carolina and Washington each scoring 9.

“Health emergencies can quickly disrupt, derail and divert resources from other ongoing priorities and efforts from across the government,” said Rich Hamburg, Trust for America’s Health’s interim president and CEO. “Many areas of progress that were made after 9-11 and the anthrax attacks to improve health security have been undercut. We aren’t adequately maintaining a strong and steady defense, leaving us unnecessarily vulnerable when new threats arise.”

According to Shanahan, Idaho should have received another point for providing biosafety training for lab employees.

“We actually have a fairly robust training system,” Shanahan said. “I think that was an error; it could have been an error on our part for not filling things out correctly.”

The report shows Idaho has reduced funding its public health budget by 4.8 percent since 2014. However, Idaho spends more money per capita on public health. At $90.45 per capita, Idaho is the sixth-highest spender in the nation.

“The commitment there is pretty strong,” Shanahan said.

When it comes to flu vaccination rates, Idaho falls short of the ideal 50 percent mark. Between July 2015 and May 2016, 39.2 percent of Idaho’s population got a flu vaccination, according to the report.

Shanahan said the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare wants to improve the state’s vaccination rates. Whalen said the Panhandle Health District does a lot of outreach for vaccines and doesn’t trust the rate given by the report.

“Our job, certainly, is to educate and make sure folks know vaccines are available throughout the community,” she said. “It’s an interesting indicator to me. Unless they’re looking at how much flu vaccine was purchased, I can’t tell you where that rate came from.”

Idaho also failed to score a point because it has no formal policy for getting private health care professionals and supplies into restricted disaster areas.

However, each health district in Idaho has its own Medical Reserve Corps made up of local volunteers.

“If there is a need for a community response, we have a cadre of volunteers, medical and non-medical, that will be ready to assist,” Whalen said.

Shanahan said, in lieu of legislated policies, Idaho has a series of executive orders the governor would sign in the event of an emergency.

“I don’t know if the report shows our true readiness, but we know we have a lot of areas to improve in,” Shanahan said. “It’s a good measurement, but not a comprehensive one.”