Get to Know MSPHI

Who We Are

Visionaries created MSPHI to support and promote public health and to help advance public health in Mississippi, establishing the organization as leaders in the state’s public health evolution. We focus on the pressing and challenging public and behavioral health care issues that our communities face.
Organic growth since our inception has set the stage for MSPHI to help frame an evolved, modern approach to advance population health in Mississippi.

We envision a system that includes-

  • A chief health strategist to help advance community-driven solutions
    In the new model for public health practice, communities need public health leaders who can see the big picture – the social determinants of health and the huge disparities by race/ethnicity, gender identity or sexual orientation, interpersonal violence and trauma, income, and geography. These leaders will be equipped to work with all relevant partners to drive public health initiatives and outcomes.
  • Structured, cross-sector partnerships to foster shared funding, services, ownership, governance, and collective action
    Engaging community stakeholders – both public and private sectors – is instrumental in developing positive partnerships that lead to positive actions and improved health outcomes.
  • Nationally accredited workforce of forward-thinking change makers
    Research shows that a well-trained, accredited workforce results in quality improvement and enhanced capacity, which is why we work with state and national partners to provide accessible and relevant training for public health professionals throughout the state.
  • Use of timely and locally relevant data, metrics, and analytics
    When public and private sectors work together, communities can access and act on real-time data that can be shared, linked, and synthesized to inform action. With this, communities can measure effects on health care and public health, especially the social determinants of health, environmental outcomes, and health disparities.
  • Enhanced, substantially modified funding for public health
    The Public Health 3.0 model suggests “blending and braiding of funds from multiple sources should be encouraged and allowed.” Leveraging every available dollar, including public, private, and philanthropic funding, benefits both partners and community.
About MSPHI

What We Do

MSPHI cultivates partnerships that bolster and advance program innovation and health equity while increasing the accessibility and impact of health resources, education, health awareness, and applied research and policy. Our mission is to engage in partnerships and activities that improve Mississippi’s health.

With an experienced staff and deep pool of consultants, MSPHI can scale up or down to meet the needs of any engagement. We work primarily across four interrelated domains.

Across the four, MSPHI conducts formative and evaluative research, program implementation, capacity building, workforce development and training, community needs assessment, and coalition building. Our team can rapidly, efficiently, and effectively deploy resources to meet state, regional, and community needs.

Community Health

Maternal and Child Health

Chronic Disease

Public and Behavioral Health Practice

Who We Are

How We Came to Be

Mississippi Public Health Institute had been operational for several years, actively engaged in public health work with and for other organizations before becoming a 501(c)(3) organization in 2011. Now positioned as a unique public trust, we work with a range of state, regional, and national partners to address some of the most complex and challenging public and mental health issues confronting the most vulnerable Mississippians.

We have successfully helped many Mississippians lead healthier lives and get the care they need through program innovation. While we focus on advancing population health in Mississippi, MSPHI is part of a national network of federal, state, and local government, nonprofit, philanthropic, and community-based organizations whose intent is to improve the health and well-being of all people. Our approach to do population health rather than sick care distinguishes the organization.

Our organization benefits from over a decade of public health accomplishments that guide our work. These notable publications serve as the foundation for our thinking and approach to the work we do in communities throughout the state:

  • 1979 Surgeon General’s Report: Healthy People: The Surgeon General’s Report on Health Promotion and Disease Prevention
  • Healthy People 1990: Promoting Health/Preventing Disease: Objectives for the Nation
  • Healthy People 2000: National Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Objectives
  • Healthy People 2010: Objectives for Improving Health
  • Healthy People 2020
MSPHI

We are dedicated to developing partnerships that are committed to program innovation, the increase of health resources, education, health awareness.

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