Welcome to the Minnesota Public Health Association (MPHA) website.  We invite you to explore our website to learn more about our Association.  MPHA is an organization where public health workers from multiple disciplines, sectors, and communities come together around shared values, goals, and priorities.  The MPHA mission is “to engage and develop its members to mobilize the community to protect and improve the public’s health.”  The diversity of MPHA contributes to our vision of being an “active, credible and independent voice for public health in Minnesota.”

Public health is in a time of challenges and opportunities   The Federal Affordable Care Act offers opportunities.  “Under health reform, we have a real opportunity to transform our nation’s health system — by moving from a ‘sick’ care system to one that prioritizes prevention and wellness — and save lives and money,” said Georges C. Benjamin, MD, FACP, FACEP (E), Executive Director of the American Public Health Association. The economic recession offers challenges. Nationwide nearly 20 percent of the governmental public health workforce has been lost since 2008 as a result of the economic recession, resulting in cuts to public health services such as immunizations, prenatal care, and air and water quality monitoring, among others.

It is crucial time for public health to speak in a unified voice about the value public health brings to our health care system.   To become involved with this in Minnesota become a MPHA member or renew your membership.  Become involved with our Committees.  You as a member are core to the strength of our Organization and to the achievement of our priorities. 

I look forward to meeting and working with you as a MPHA member.  I welcome your ideas and can be reached at president@mpha.net.

Ann Bajari

2011-2012 MPHA President