Health Efforts Garner $24-Million Pledge

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the W. K. Kellogg Foundation have joined forces in a new $24-million grant program designed to transform state and local public-health systems.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is focusing on the state public-health agencies, said Nancy Kaufman, a vice-president at the foundation.

Fourteen states have been allocated $300,000 apiece over two years.

An additional six states could also receive grants.

The grants are intended to help state and local public-health departments become more efficient, work more closely with private health-care systems, and focus more on health concerns that affect the public at large, such as tobacco and alcohol use, environmental hazards, and emerging infectious diseases.

Kellogg has awarded $17-million over three years to 41 communities within the 14 states for similar purposes.

For more information about “Turning Point: Collaborating for a New Century in Public Health,” contact the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, P.O. Box 2316, Princeton, N.J. 08543; (609) 452-8701; http://www.rwjf.org; or the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, One Michigan Avenue East, Battle Creek, Mich. 49017; (616) 968-1611; http://www.wkkf.org.