WHEREAS, the Turning Point initiative, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, is an organization seeking to strengthen the public health system at all levels by making it more community-based and collaborative; and

WHEREAS, Turning Point has established twenty-three state and forty-one community-level partnerships to help improve and modernize the public health system; and

WHEREAS, the state-level partners are collaborating to:

WHEREAS, national level Turning Point partners have formed the National Excellence Collaboratives and are working to modernize public health statutes; create accountable performance management systems; utilize information technology; invest in social marketing; and develop leadership; and

WHEREAS, one of the National Excellence Collaboratives, the Public Health Statute Modernization National Collaborative, is composed of representatives from five states (Alaska, Colorado, Nebraska, Oregon, Wisconsin), nine national organizations and government agencies, and experts in specialty areas of public health, seeking to develop a model state public health law; and

WHEREAS, through intensive research and cooperation, the Turning Point Public Health Statute Modernization National Collaborative has drafted a Model State Public Health Act concerning public health administration and practice for consideration as benchmarks by existing public health agencies at the state and local levels; and

WHEREAS, the Model State Public Health Act is designed as a tool for state, local, and tribal governments to use in revising or updating public health statutes and administrative rules; the Act was released for comments from additional experts and the public, with the deadline for comments on the draft Act set on March 31, 2003; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2003, that this body expresses its support for the work done to improve public health systems by Turning Point, particularly members of the Turning Point Public Health Statute Modernization National Collaborative; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this body urges the Department of Health and the Governor to explore the possibility of Hawaii's participation in the Turning Point initiative; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, the Director of Health, and the Director of the Turning Point National Program Office.

Report Title:

Turning Point Public Health Initiatives.