Davis and Erwin receive Robert Wood Johnson grants to work with local health agencies
| February 16, 2009 | |
The UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health’s North Carolina Institute for Public Health and a graduate student in health policy and administration have received grants from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to work with local North Carolina health agencies.
Dr. Mary Davis
Mary V. Davis, DrPH, director of evaluation services at the Institute and principal investigator on the Institute grant, will explore how accreditation has influenced North Carolina’s local health departments, including whether the process has improved the delivery of services and health outcomes. Examining whether accreditation improves service delivery and health outcomes could provide information to improve the North Carolina accreditation program. This project ultimately will provide information to improve national public health accreditation efforts. 
Dr. Ed Baker
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Working with Davis are Edward L. Baker, MD, MPH, director of the North Carolina Institute for Public Health and research professor of health policy and management; Dorothy Cilenti, MPH, a doctor of public health candidate and Institute deputy director for operations and management; J. Michael Bowling, PhD, research associate professor of health behavior and health education; and Margaret M. Cannon, MPH, and Elizabeth P. Mahanna, MPH, research associates at the Institute.
Paul Erwin, MD, doctoral student in health policy and management, also received funding to examine how changes in state-level health systems – including health agencies, health departments and hospitals – have affected health outcomes in states over the past 15 years. The project will help determine the effect of quality improvement efforts in state health departments on health outcomes.
The two grants are administered through the Changes in Health Care Financing and Organization (HCFO) initiative, an RWJF program managed by AcademyHealth. HCFO strives to bridge the health policy and health services research communities by providing information on health care policy, financing, and market developments; and bringing together the policy and research communities through issues identification, research translation, and communication activities. <p”>
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is the nation’s largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to improving the health and health care of all Americans. For more than 35 years, the Foundation has worked with a diverse group of organizations and individuals to identify solutions and achieve comprehensive, meaningful and timely change.
