Dave Palm, Mary Munter, and I recently attended Robert Wood Johnson (RWJ) Foundation's "Turning Point" conference in Virginia from Mar. 3-5. The fourteen "Turning Point" states were all there to share information and to attend workshops on Native American Health, public health policy and law, state child health insurance programs and performance measurement. It is both heartening and frustrating to learn about what is going on in other states: heartening because we have established a public health trust fund which is the envy of most of the states in attendance, and frustrating because we do not have the infrastructure that many other states enjoy. Nevertheless, I heard on several ocassions from RWJ staff that Nebraska is one of the shining examples in the "Turning Point" planning process.

At the conference it was announced that a second tier of states will be funded by RWJ, and for the original 14 states in "Turning Point," additional funding will be available for implementation of their plans. If you haven't been involved in "Turning Point," it is not too late to join us. Give me a call at 402-554-2670 if you have any questions or if you want to be involved. Additional RWJ funding would certainly help Nebraska to make public health more public.

My thanks go out to Dave and Mary for including me in the "Turning Point" conference. Unfortunately, I found out right after the conference that my mother's death was immient so I went straight to her side at a hospice in Florida. I was able to be at her side when she died peacefully. I am grateful to the wonderful people who work with hospice who allow people to experience a painless, and dignified death.

NPHA is staying involved in the legislative process. I attended the legislative day sponsored by the American Heart Association. LB 505, which significantly raises tobacco taxes, looks like it has a good chance of passing. Please make phone calls and write letters to your senators letting them know how you feel about this and other public health-related legislation.

By the time you read this our day care center hand washing project funded by Colgate-Palmolive will be well underway in Columbus, Lincoln and Omaha. This project is part of our National Public Health Week celebration, April 5-9. Thanks to Tiffany Sutter for all of her hard work on this project.

I had the opportunity to speak with Dr. Dick Raymond, Nebraska's new chief medical officer. I was very impressed with his willingness to listen and his committment to public health. I fully intend that NPHA and Dr. Raymond will regularly stay in communication with each other and that we will work together to improve public health in Nebraska.

David E. Corbin
President, NPHA