Shelby County Health Department gets $14M, ‘game-changer’ grant from CDC
“The CDC fully funded all of our requests,” Shelby County Health Department Director Dr. Michelle Taylor said. “This funding is designed to address under-resourced communities like Shelby County that are economically challenged and have high-risk and underserved populations.” (Ziggy Mack/The Daily Memphian file)
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention awarded the Shelby County Health Department and its partners $13.8 million over a 5-year period to improve local public health workforce and infrastructure.
The funding is part of the CDC’s $3.2 billion investment in local and state awards to strengthen public health infrastructure across the nation.
“This investment by the CDC is a testament to the leadership and good work of the Shelby County Health Department,” said Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris. “We’re thankful to President Biden’s Administration and the CDC for their confidence, support and ongoing partnership.”
Dr. Michelle Taylor, health department director, said the grant is a “game-changer” for the organization, whose goals include recruiting, retaining and training the county’s public health workforce to better serve the community and improve health outcomes.
“The CDC fully funded all of our requests,” she said. “This funding is designed to address under-resourced communities like Shelby County that are economically challenged and have high-risk and underserved populations.”
Partner organization University of Memphis’ School of Public Health played a crucial role in the health department’s grant proposal.
Ashish Joshi, dean of the university’s School of Public Health, said the grant will be used to help prepare the next generation’s public health workforce to address challenges and strengthen the county’s public health data infrastructure.
Topics
Shelby County Health Department Dr. Michelle Taylor Mayor Lee Harris CDC University of MemphisAisling Mäki
Aisling Mäki covers health care, banking and finance, technology and professions. After launching her career in news two decades ago, she worked in public relations for almost a decade before returning to journalism in 2022.
As a health care reporter, she’s collaborated with The Carter Center, earned awards from the Associated Press and Society of Professional Journalists and won a 2024 Tennessee Press Association first-place prize for her series on discrepancies in Shelby County life expectancy by ZIP code.
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