NEW JERSEY: Stop the creation of the Public Health Institute which would allow for your public health to be for sale
Our Stand: At-A-Glance
- New Jersey bill A4362 (Conaway/Speight) “provides for designation and establishment of Public Health Institute in New Jersey.” This bill seeks to “sustain a relationship between State government and a public health institute, establishing a framework by which the New Jersey Department of Health may engage in a public-private partnership with an organization that can serve as the State’s “Public Health Institute.” The actual purpose of the “Public Health Institute” would be to actively “develop” the programs and initiatives which would become the practical reality of public health for all of us and to “coordinate and implement strategies” in various areas, including “policy making.”
- The legislation would codify and actually encourage the kinds of conflicts of interest that we rightfully seek to eliminate from public health decision making and strategy because they generate neither health nor equity, but instead foster corruption and injustice. This bill seeks to “maintain a network of personnel with expertise in the areas of healthcare data collection and analysis, health care policy (will this eliminate the legislative process?), health care information systems (example: NJ Immunization Information System), and public health research; and any other criteria established by the commissioner (very broad terms).”
- Bill A4325, also being heard in Assembly Health Committee on Monday, “Permits procurement of medical countermeasures, products, and therapeutics,” this bill seems to link up to A4362 and allows the “Public Health Institute” to purchase these items, creating a seamless partnership between NJDOH and community organizations. This idea expands what we saw served during the COVID pandemic, when religious leaders at various institutions were compensated for hosting vaccine clinics and encouraging vaccinations.
- Will bill A4362 establish in New Jersey the very same kind of public health framework that was a colossal failure at the national level during the pandemic?
- Is NJ attempting to codify “corporate capture” of public health and circumvent the legislative process in NJ?
- Is there evidence or proof of concept to demonstrate that a Public Health Institute in NJ is likely to be successful by actually improving the health of our citizens or is this just a reckless experiment?