U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced Wednesday $2,237,260 in grant funding, partly supported by the Affordable Care Act, to California to enhance its public health infrastructure and strengthen its public health workforce.

Awarded in nearly every state, this funding will improve the delivery of necessary public health services in communities, cities and states across the country.

“These funds will help health departments around the country maximize the impact of the essential services they provide every day, and build the public health workforce to ensure we’re ready to meet the public health challenges of tomorrow,” said Secretary Sebelius. “Strengthening our nation’s public health system is critical to protecting the health of all Americans.”

The grants, supported through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), will fund key State and local public health programs at the Los Angeles County Public Health Department, the County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency, and the California Department of Public Health. Most of these grant dollars come from the Prevention and Public Health Fund created by the Affordable Care Act.

This is the second year of CDC’s five-year program known as the National Public Health Improvement Initiative (NPHII) Strengthening Public Health Infrastructure for Improved Health Outcomes grant program.

Over 100 people across the country have already been hired through the NPHII and additional positions are expected to be filled through today’s awards.

The NPHII funding allows health departments to improve the delivery and impact of the public health services they provide by improving how they track the performance of their programs; fostering the identification, dissemination and adoption of public health’s best and most promising practices; building a network of performance improvement managers across the country that share strategies for improving the public health system; and maximizing cohesion across states’ and communities’ public health systems to ensure seamless and coordinated services for residents.

“A strong, efficient, and effective public health system is critical for building a healthy society,” said CDC Director, Thomas R. Frieden, M.D., M.P.H. “Investing in preventive services, system improvement and comprehensive interventions is essential to reducing the burden of health care costs in the future.”