Abstract
Over the last 25 years, our communities have seen many growing and emerging challenges that have required the public health workforce to be nimble and well-trained in a wide range of areas, making national initiatives such as the Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Survey (PH WINS) critical to assessing the needs of the public health workforce. As the de Beaumont Foundation prepared to field PH WINS in 2024, the 10 regional Public Health Training Centers (PHTCs), funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration and collectively known as the PHTC Network, were a natural partner to assist in the expansion of PH WINS to local health departments (LHDs). In 2024, due to having the first nationally representative sample of small LHDs, 1178 LHDs were included in the national sample of LHDs, up from 431 LHDs in 2017 and 439 LHDs in 2021. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the PHTCs’ role in bridging gaps between national public health initiatives and achieving the regional reach needed to help ensure engagement among individual states and local communities.