Statewide Iowa — Iowa now ranks among the “top tier” states in a non-profit group’s annual study of preparedness to respond to a range of health emergencies, including disease outbreaks and natural disasters.
Dara Lieberman, director of government relations at Trust for America’s Health, says the rankings are compiled based on ten key factors.
In addition to a boost in public health funding, the report notes Iowa had an increase in the percentage of workers who use paid time off.
As America enters its third year of grappling with COVID-19, she says the pandemic continued to demonstrate the need for urgent investment to create a public health system to protect everyone. Iowa showed its ability to respond to natural disasters earlier this month, after a storm system spun off multiple tornadoes in the state.
Iowa is among 17 states in the top tier category, with 20 states in the middle, and 13 in the bottom tier. See the full “Ready or Not” report at: www.tfah.org
