By Trish Svoboda

Recently, Kansas has been recognized with a High-Performance Tier ranking in the Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) Ready or Not Annual Report. This achievement is attributed to the efforts of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s (KDHE) Emergency Preparedness program. The ‘Ready or Not 2024’ report evaluates the preparedness of states to handle a range of health emergencies and their ability to maintain public health services.

The annual report assesses the capacity of each state to handle diverse public health emergencies while delivering routine public health services that communities depend on. States are evaluated on nine indicators and then classified into three readiness tiers: high, middle, and low. Kansas, along with 20 other states and the District of Columbia, achieved a high-tier ranking for emergency preparedness.

The report highlights several areas where Kansas excels. It participates in the Nurse Licensure Compact and holds accreditations from both the Public Health Accreditation Board and the Emergency Management Accreditation Program. From FY2022 to FY2023, public health funding in Kansas saw an increase. The state also has a low percentage of the population using contaminated community water systems, at less than 4 percent. Kansas ranked slightly above average in the percentage of workers who utilized paid time off between March 2018 and 2023. In addition, the Public Health Laboratory has a written plan in place to handle a surge in testing capacity for six to eight weeks.