Olmsted County Public Health receives $388,000 grant from Minnesota Department of Health

ROCHESTER, Minn. (KTTC) – Olmsted County Public Health received more than $350,000 to fund disease outbreak data gathering and sharing.

The grant comes from the $6 million Minnesota Department of Health Infrastructure Fund.

Olmsted County Public Health officials say the last time MDH looked at rebuilding public health infrastructure was 1976.

Because of the pandemic, experts say showcased the gaps and needs in the public health field.

Public health officials say investing into data will them get a better idea into how to keep our community safe.

“It will give us more real time data to help us understand better what’s happening related to health risks in our community, and so in return it will help us make data-driven decisions around program planning, where we’re prioritizing our resources, what are the actual needs of our community,” Olmsted County Public Health director Denise Daniels said.

Olmsted county public health officials plan to start researching projects by late September. Rollout for those projects should occur by the end of the year.