PHIG

Strengthening Utah’s Public Health Infrastructure, Workforce, and Data Systems

Utah’s Public Health Infrastructure Grant (PHIG) supports workforce development, foundational capabilities, and data modernization across Utah’s public health system which improves the systems and resources that safeguard communities from disease, emerging health threats, and emergencies.

Explore PHIG Strategies

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What is PHIG? PHIG is a multi-year federal investment strengthening Utah’s public health workforce, systems, and data to support essential services, improve preparedness, and build long-term infrastructure capacity. Learn more on the CDC webpage.

What does PHIG support? PHIG supports workforce development, foundational capabilities, and data modernization through training, system improvements, policy development, and coordinated investments across state and local public health agencies.

How is PHIG implemented? PHIG is implemented through statewide coordination, partner collaboration, CDC alignment, and ongoing assessment to ensure investments are strategic, measurable, and responsive to Utah’s public health system needs.

Why it matters? Strong infrastructure enables faster response, better data, improved coordination, and sustainable systems, leading to more effective public health services and better health outcomes across Utah communities.

Infrastructure means the systems behind public health work

Public health infrastructure includes the people, systems, processes, partnerships, technology, and policies that allow agencies to deliver services effectively and respond to community needs.

PHIG in Utah

The Public Infrastructure Grant Team (PHIG) directs funding to priority areas to improve health outcomes. This work is guided by lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and focuses on three key goals to strengthen preparedness for future health threats. A1: Workforce Development supports the recruitment, training, and retention of public health professionals to build a strong and sustainable workforce. A2: Foundational Capabilities focuses on improving essential systems, processes, and policies to strengthen overall operations. A3: Data Modernization aims to enhance technology systems to ensure public health data is timely, accurate and accessible. Each goal is supported by targeted projects designed to achieve these priorities and strengthen the state’s public health infrastructure.

A $41 million federal financial assistance award
13 local health departments engaged
More than 50% of workforce and foundational capability funds allocated through direct financial subawards to local authorities
Utah-specific projects:
- Critical positions funded
- PHIG Summit
- UTRAIN
- A statewide EHR contract

What PHIG strengthens

Strategy A1: Strengthen the Public Health workforce

Goal: Build a skilled, supported, and sustainable public health workforce.

PHIG supports efforts to recruit, retain, train, and sustain Utah's public health workforce. Activities may include workforce planning, professional development, retention supports, and improvements to workforce systems and processes.

Strategy A2: Strengthen Foundational Capabilities

Goal: Strengthen the organizational capabilities needed to deliver essential public health services.

Foundational capabilities are cross-cutting skills and systems that support all public health work, including assessment, communications, policy development, partnerships, quality improvement, accountability, and emergency readiness.

Strategy A3: Data Modernization

PHIG supports data modernization by improving data systems, interoperability, data governance, visualization, reporting efficiency, and laboratory data exchange.

Learn more about the value and impact of this work by viewing the drop downs and by visiting the Data Modernization website.

PHIG impact and results

The PHIG grant team strengthens public health by investing in a skilled workforce, effective leadership and modern data systems. Through workforce development, the program builds a professional team prepared to provide reliable services to all communities. Strengthening foundational capabilities ensures that health departments are well organized and manage resources effectively. Data modernization replaces outdated tools with digital systems that provide accurate, real time information. Together, these efforts create a strong and resilient public health system prepared to respond to current and future health challenges.

DHHS increased public health capacity by utilizing epidemiologists in more social work/health centric areas and projects. The epidemiology capacity project was a pilot initiative designed to expand and embed an epidemiologist within a department that has lacked data analysis resources. A department-wide capacity survey conducted in February 2024 highlighted several critical gaps including skill shortfalls and high demand with no funding. The PHIG team, lead by Camille Roundy, helped to place DPH epidemiologist, Nathan Malan into the Division of Family Health for a six month placement for the pilot project. Nathan was able to help the Division of Family Health with data processes including root causes analyses to better understand community health trends, building automated data pipelines and public-facing dashboards, and establishing models for other embedded roles. The pilot project showed how epidemiology can be useful and impactful in other areas.
The public health transformation project (PHTP) is a collaborative initiative led by DHHS and LHDs to establish a unified and modernized public health strategic framework to guide future funding pursuits. The initiative goals are designed to clarify state and local roles, define its essential, ideal public health system to advocate for sustainable state level funding, and create system alignment that can be incorporated into daily operations and align grant writing opportunities. The PHTP is helping to create a sustainable future for public health in Utah.

The DHHS PAE team took on the task to increase the number of students who took the Student Health and Risk Prevention (SHARP) survey. The survey is administered every other year with each school district and charter school invited to participate. The survey is the most comprehensive source of information on the challenges and opportunities our youth face and is an important data source for Utah. Participation numbers were declining, so PAE created and implemented a communication campaign to boost participation. The campaign led to a complete overhaul of SHARP survey messaging, which led to a positive shift in attitude from key stakeholders, including school board members and city officials. Survey participation jumped from 46,527 to 78,565 since the campaign started.
Externally, the Utah Health Improvement Plan (UHIP) coalition collaborated with local health departments and community-based organizations. UHIP is a multi-year plan to address top public health concerns and improve the wellbeing of all Utahns. The 2023-2028 UHIP was launched in June 2024 aligning with a Public Health 3.0 approach and focusing on community protective factors. PHIG funding helped UHIP hire a part time program manager, award mini-grants to community partners working on UHIP objectives, and provide funding for data and surveillance related to UHIP. This project brought partners together from a variety of sectors to address critical public health priorities and allow innovative approaches to solving the problems.

The DMI team participated in the Data Modernization Action Incubator facilitated by the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors (NACDD). Utah participated in the incubator program as a small team alongside other states, establishing a direct peer-exchange partnership with Minnesota. This collaboration allowed both states to share their success, challenges, and information infrastructure solutions. Utah’s participation in the incubator elevated the state’s national reputation as a leader in the DMI space. Participation in the partnership with the NACDD also led to Katie Zimmerman receiving the 2025 Data Systems Change Leadership Award for Individual Excellence award.
The DMI team led a major system-wide modernization milestone by shifting from county-led systems to a unified approach for electronic health records (EHR). In 2021, the Utah Association of Local Health Departments published a report identifying five critical areas where EHRs fell short for local health departments. Based on the findings from the report, the DMI team and local health departments partnered to procure a single, public-health focused EHR platform using a statewide cooperative contract. This allowed any state or local health department to directly opt-in for use with vaccine tracking, data connections with Utah’s Health Information Exchange, and the Statewide Immunization Information System. After some difficult procurement roadblocks, the statewide cooperative contract with CureMD went live on March 5, 2025. Three local health departments and DHHS were early adopters and have begun using the platform and exploring future integrations. This change led to a decreased burden on local health departments and improved data access to make timely decisions that will positively impact the health of Utahns.

Community and partner engagement

Utah’s Public Health Infrastructure Grant (PHIG) drives system-wide modernization across the Utah Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), 13 Local Health Departments (LHDs), and the Utah Association of Local Health Departments. Through direct financial subawards—allocating over 50% of workforce and foundational capability funds to local authorities—PHIG delivers the flexibility needed to address targeted community priorities. It unifies state, local, and tribal leadership through a multi-tiered governance council and annual summits, while strengthening internal DHHS operations by funding critical cross-divisional positions, data pilots, and equity assessments. Additionally, PHIG expands capacity statewide by providing shared enterprise tools, including the UTRAIN learning hub, workforce toolkits, a statewide Electronic Health Record contract, and centralized data platforms like EpiTrax.

Resources and tools

PHIG provides tools, resources and training materials to support the public health workforce. The first drop down menu lists upcoming training sessions and includes a link to register for open sessions; private training requires contacting PHIG staff for access. The second drop down menu provides access to past training, including recordings and materials from previous sessions. The third drop down menu provides access to UTRAIN for ongoing learning and skill development.

UTRAIN is a gateway into the TRAIN Learning Network, the most comprehensive catalog of public health training opportunities. TRAIN Is a free service for learners from the Public Health Foundation.
Through this site, you can:
- Quickly find and register for many courses listed on Train.org and participating TRAIN affiliate sites,
- Track your learning with personal online transcripts,
- Access valuable materials, course reviews, and discussions to improve your learning experience, and
- Stay informed of the latest public health trainings for your area or expertise.

The Public Health Training Hub is a comprehensive catalog of online learning experiences that provide public health professionals the opportunity to participate in professional development opportunities.
The Hub includes:
- A list of public health conferences and events
- Recommended email newsletter subscriptions
- Toolkits and templates
- Self-paced trainings, and
- Training needs assessment.

Technical Assistance

Please complete this form if you need assistance from the team with any part of your grant funded project. Use it to request support in reviewing, updating, or clarifying information in your approved grant application. Provide clear and detailed information so the team can review and respond to your request appropriately.

Complete the form to request technical assistance

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Funding

This Public Health Infrastructure Grant Team held within the Utah Department of Health and Human Services is supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of the financial assistance award totaling $41 million with 100 percent funding by CDC/HHS. The contents are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement by CDC/HHS or the US Government.

Federal disclaimer

The Public Health Infrastructure Grant (PHIG) is a federal program administered by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that strengthens public health systems in Utah. The grant focuses on workforce development (A1), foundational capabilities (A2), and data modernization (A3) to improve public health services. The funding period runs through December 1, 2022 through November 30, 2027, with yearly funding provided according to the CDC guidelines and approved activities. The Utah Department of Health and Human Services has formed a team to lead this work across the state. The grant also supports related staff and projects that help strengthen Utah’s public health system overall.

Feedback and contact

If you have any questions or comments, you may contact the PHIG team. The team will review your message and respond as quickly as possible with the information requested. Your feedback is important and helps improve our work. To reach the PHIG team, please use the contact us button or the contact information link at the bottom of this section.

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