Minnesota State Infrastructure Fund (Innovation Projects)

Minnesota State Infrastructure Fund (Innovation Projects) is sponsored by Minnesota Department of Health - Center for Public Health Practice. Funding for community health boards and Tribal governments to test new ways of delivering foundational public health responsibilities.

Minnesota Public Health Infrastructure Fund: Local Innovation, Big Transformation - MN Dept. of Health Transforming Minnesota's Public Health System Home: System Transformation Framework of Foundational Responsibilities Definitions, Criteria, and Standards for Fulfillment Minn.

Infrastructure Fund and Local Innovation Projects Governance Groups and Communities of Practice Tribal Public Health Capacity and Infrastructure FPHR Grant: Funding for Foundational Responsibilities Reports, Fact Sheets, Resources News & Blog: Public Health System Transformation Update Center for Public Health Practice Transforming Minnesota's Public Health System Home: System Transformation Framework of Foundational Responsibilities Definitions, Criteria, and Standards for Fulfillment Minn.

Infrastructure Fund and Local Innovation Projects Governance Groups and Communities of Practice Tribal Public Health Capacity and Infrastructure FPHR Grant: Funding for Foundational Responsibilities Reports, Fact Sheets, Resources News & Blog: Public Health System Transformation Update Center for Public Health Practice Center for Public Health Practice Center for Public Health Practice Minnesota Public Health Infrastructure Fund: Local Innovation, Big Transformation Transforming the public health system in Minnesota Innovation that challenges the status quo is needed to develop novel, creative approaches to improving the public health system by fulfilling foundational public health responsibilities .

Minnesota’s local health departments and Tribal Nations are identifying, testing, and expanding new ways of building capacity in foundational public health responsibilities, with grants from the Minnesota Infrastructure Fund. Updated: July 2026.

Local communities are often best positioned to implement novel approaches to public health because they are on the front lines, identifying the gaps and problems in the current public health system. They are also able to adapt, iterate, and scale innovative approaches quickly for maximum impact. Innovation projects by region About the Minnesota Public Health Infrastructure Fund How were these projects selected?

Related: Regional data models Innovation Projects Currently Supported by the Minnesota Public Health Infrastructure Fund (PDF) Innovation projects by region What is a community health board? Learn more: Minnesota's Public Health System: Community Health Boards .

Current Northwest innovation projects Cooperate across local and Tribal health teams to create health messages that resonate with different cultures July 2025 through June 2027 (state fiscal years 2026-2027) Participating community health boards and Tribal Nations: Beltrami (fiscal host), Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, Red Lake Nation, White Earth Nation Test a new system where Tribal and local public health experts track and respond to diseases across communities more effectively July 2025 through June 2027 (state fiscal years 2026-2027) Participating county and Tribal Nation: Itasca, Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe (fiscal host, via Aitkin-Itasca-Koochiching Community Health Board) Explore new and effective ways to collaborate on communications across rural local public health departments, regional public health communications and education July 2024 through June 2028 (state fiscal years 2025-2028) Participating community health boards: Partnership4Health (Becker, Clay), Polk-Norman-Mahnomen (fiscal host), Prairie Lakes (Otter Tail, Wilkin) Completed Northwest innovation projects Grow local public health departments' ability to cooperate across a region on environmental public health work July 2022 through June 2024 (state fiscal years 2023-2024) Participating community health boards: Marshall (county only), Pennington-Red Lake (health department only), Polk-Norman-Mahnomen (fiscal host) Explore new and effective ways to cooperate on communications and public health education across rural local public health departments (visit: North Country Community Health Board Media ) July 2022 through June 2026 (state fiscal years 2023-2026) Participating community health boards: Beltrami, North Country (fiscal host) (Clearwater, Hubbard, Lake of the Woods) Join forces to more effectively track and use population health data regionally, across rural local public health departments, using shared tools and knowledge (also called the Northwest 8 Public Health Hub; visit: Reports/Data [Quin County] ) July 2022 through June 2026 (state fiscal years 2023-2026); In July 2026, this innovation project became a permanent regional data model.

Participating community health boards: Polk-Norman-Mahnomen, Quin County (fiscal host) (Marshall, Red Lake, Pennington, Kittson, Roseau) Learn more about this project: Regional Data Models Webinar (October 2025) Related: Regional Models to Collect, Use, and Share Local Population Health Data Explore new and effective ways to collaborate on communications across rural local public health departments, regional public health communications and education July 2024 through June 2026 (state fiscal years 2025-2026) Participating community health boards: Partnership4Health (Becker, Clay, Otter Tail, Wilkin), Polk-Norman-Mahnomen (fiscal host) Current Northeast innovation projects Explore ways for rural areas to collect and use population health data more effectively, so they can make smart decisions to keep their communities healthy July 2025 through June 2027 (state fiscal years 2026-2027) Participating community health boards: Aitkin-Itasca-Koochiching (fiscal host), Carlton-Cook-Lake-St.

Louis Cooperate across local and Tribal health teams to create health messages that resonate with different cultures July 2025 through June 2027 (state fiscal years 2026-2027) Participating community health boards and Tribal Nations: Beltrami (fiscal host), Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, Red Lake Nation, White Earth Nation Test a new system where Tribal and local public health experts track and respond to diseases across communities more effectively July 2025 through June 2027 (state fiscal years 2026-2027) Participating county and Tribal Nation: Itasca, Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe (fiscal host, via Aitkin-Itasca-Koochiching Community Health Board) Completed Northeast innovation projects Grow a regional team that helps local public health departments better understand, share, and talk about data, to prevent health issues across the entire community before they start (visit: Let's modernize public health together [Carlton-Cook-Lake-St.

Louis] ) July 2022 through June 2026 (state fiscal years 2023-2026) Participating community health boards: Aitkin-Itasca-Koochiching, Carlton-Cook-Lake-St.

Louis (fiscal host) Arrowhead region: Building a strong foundation for data-informed planning, communications, and decision-making [MDH] (note: this article refers to a previous iteration of this project) News release: Speaking of Cannabis: Public health partners want to empower adults to talk to teens about not using (PDF) InfraBlog: Learning about foundational capabilities and what they look like in Carlton-Cook-Lake-St.

Louis Current West Central innovation projects Cooperate across local and Tribal health teams to create health messages that resonate with different cultures July 2025 through June 2027 (state fiscal years 2026-2027) Participating community health boards and Tribal Nations: Beltrami (fiscal host), Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, Red Lake Nation, White Earth Nation Create a hub that combines population health stories, data, and maps to help communities understand and prevent population health issues July 2024 through June 2028 (state fiscal years 2025-2028) Participating community health boards: Countryside (Big Stone, Chippewa, Lac qui Parle, Swift, Yellow Medicine), Horizon (fiscal host) (Douglas, Grant, Pope, Stevens, Traverse) Explore new and effective ways to collaborate on communications across rural local public health departments, regional public health communications and education July 2024 through June 2028 (state fiscal years 2025-2028) Participating community health boards: Partnership4Health (Becker, Clay), Polk-Norman-Mahnomen (fiscal host), Prairie Lakes (Otter Tail, Wilkin) Completed West Central innovation projects Design more responsive and effective ways to share public health information using modern tools and trusted voices in the community July 2022 through June 2024 (state fiscal years 2023-2024) Participating community health board: Horizon (Douglas, Grant, Pope, Stevens, Traverse) Grow the knowledge, skills, and abilities of local public health experts to share disease and population health data, while building organizational and community relationships to maintain similar work across county and state lines July 2022 through June 2024 (state fiscal years 2023-2024) Participating community health board: Partnership4Health (Becker, Clay, Otter Tail, Wilkin) Current Central innovation projects Cooperate across local and Tribal health teams to create health messages that resonate with different cultures July 2025 through June 2027 (state fiscal years 2026-2027) Participating community health boards and Tribal Nations: Beltrami (fiscal host), Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, Red Lake Nation, White Earth Nation Bring together public health, community organizations, and medical care systems, to share data and ideas so communities can better collaborate on improving community health July 2025 through June 2027 (state fiscal years 2026-2027) Participating community health boards: Benton (fiscal host), Sherburne, Stearns Test a new system where Tribal and local public health experts track and respond to diseases across communities more effectively July 2025 through June 2027 (state fiscal years 2026-2027) Participating county and Tribal Nation: Itasca, Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe (fiscal host, via Aitkin-Itasca-Koochiching Community Health Board) Completed Central innovation projects All projects in the Central region are currently active.

Current Metro innovation projects In partnership with trusted community organizations, develop strategies to help the Latine community care for mental health in ways that prevent serious issues July 2024 through December 2026 (state fiscal years 2025-2026) Participating community health boards: Carver (fiscal host), Scott Discover a more effective method to track and help prevent the spread of infectious diseases in jails and correctional facilities July 2025 through June 2027 (state fiscal years 2026-2027) Participating community health boards: Dakota, St.

Paul-Ramsey (fiscal host), Washington Completed Metro innovation projects Help people to recover from addiction and prevent community harm by studying the impacts of safe recovery sites and working in partnership with neighboring communities July 2024 through June 2025 (state fiscal year 2025) Participating community health boards: Minneapolis (fiscal host), St.

Paul-Ramsey Grow local public health departments' ability to serve all residents more effectively, by integrating trauma-informed methods and practices July 2022 through June 2025 (state fiscal years 2023-2025) Participating community health boards: Bloomington, Edina, Hennepin (fiscal host) Minneapolis, Richfield Team up with the city and community groups to make sure everyone has what they need to be their healthiest July 2022 through June 2024 (state fiscal years 2023-2024) Participating community health boards: Bloomington (fiscal host), Edina, Richfield Fund and support community work in new ways, to make sure everyone’s voice is heard in finding and sustaining ways to keep their community its healthiest July 2022 through June 2024 (state fiscal years 2023-2024) Participating community health board: Carver Make it easier to share population health trends between hospitals and public health departments so they can respond quickly and effectively (also called Health Trends Across Communities in Minnesota ) July 2022 through June 2026 (state fiscal years 2023-2026) Participating community health boards: Hennepin Twin Cities metro: Electronic health records can supplement local public health data collection [MDH] Health Trends Across Communities: a healthcare system-public health collaboration to advance health equity across Minnesota [Annals of Family Medicine] Health Trends Across Communities in Minnesota: a statewide dashboard leveraging the OMOP CDM to monitor the prevalence of health conditions (8:16) [Observational Health Data Sciences and Informatics ] Increase ways to partner with cultural communities, to more effectively co-create and share important and accurate health information in many languages and cultural styles, so that all people have the information they need to be their healthiest (visit: Trusted Messenger Initiative [St.

Paul-Ramsey County Public Health] ) July 2022 through June 2026 (state fiscal years 2023-2026) Participating community health boards: Dakota, St.

Paul-Ramsey (fiscal host) Create and support an evidence-based plan to make pregnancy and birth safer for all parents and babies, by partnering with, listening to, and following the lead of African American and American Indian communities (visit: Birth Justice Collaborative ) July 2024 through June 2026 (state fiscal years 2025-2026) Participating community health boards: Hennepin (fiscal host), Minneapolis Current Southwest innovation projects Cooperate as a region with a university, and build a regional partnership, to train future public health workers who will help prevent population health problems across many communities (visit: About the Collaborative for Rural Public Health Innovation ) July 2024 through June 2028 (state fiscal years 2025-2028) Participating community health boards: Blue Earth, Brown, Countryside (Big Stone, Chippewa, Lac qui Parle, Swift, Yellow Medicine), Des Moines Valley (Cottonwood, Jackson), Faribault-Martin (fiscal host), Kandiyohi-Renville, Le Sueur-Waseca, Meeker-McLeod-Sibley, Nicollet, Nobles, Southwest (Lincoln, Lyon, Murray, Pipestone, Rock, Redwood), Watonwan Association of Minnesota Counties Announces 2025 County Achievement Awards (PDF) Create a hub that combines population health stories, data, and maps to help communities understand and prevent population health issues July 2024 through June 2028 (state fiscal years 2025-2028) Participating community health boards: Countryside (Big Stone, Chippewa, Lac qui Parle, Swift, Yellow Medicine), Horizon (fiscal host) (Douglas, Grant, Pope, Stevens, Traverse) Completed Southwest innovation projects Build better ways to share population health data in rural areas, working with local leaders to prevent health problems July 2022 through June 2024 (state fiscal years 2023-2024) Participating community health board: Countryside (Big Stone, Chippewa, Lac qui Parle, Swift, Yellow Medicine) Grow support for mental health in the community by working together across sectors and developing new partnerships, and help communities understand and use population health data July 2022 through June 2024 (state fiscal years 2023-2024) Participating community health board: Des Moines Valley (Cottonwood, Jackson) Current South Central innovation projects Explore the pros and cons of different ways to join work (organization, structure, governance) across health departments, to serve people more effectively July 2025 through June 2027 (state fiscal years 2026-2027) Participating community health boards: Le Sueur-Waseca Explore the pros and cons of different ways to join work (organization, structure, governance) across health departments, to serve people more effectively July 2025 through June 2027 (state fiscal years 2026-2027) Participating community health boards: Meeker-McLeod-Sibley Cooperate as a region with a university, and build a regional partnership, to train future public health workers who will help prevent population health problems across many communities (visit: About the Collaborative for Rural Public Health Innovation ) July 2024 through June 2028 (state fiscal years 2025-2028) Participating community health boards: Blue Earth, Brown, Countryside (Big Stone, Chippewa, Lac qui Parle, Swift, Yellow Medicine), Des Moines Valley (Cottonwood, Jackson), Faribault-Martin (fiscal host), Kandiyohi-Renville, Le Sueur-Waseca, Meeker-McLeod-Sibley, Nicollet, Nobles, Southwest (Lincoln, Lyon, Murray, Pipestone, Rock, Redwood), Watonwan Association of Minnesota Counties Announces 2025 County Achievement Awards (PDF) Completed South Central innovation projects Explore ways for community health workers to help share population health information and education, to build departments' capacity for communications July 2022 through June 2024 (state fiscal years 2023-2024) Participating community health board: Le Sueur-Waseca Current Southeast innovation projects All innovation projects in the Southeast region are complete.

Completed Southeast innovation projects Explore ways for different jurisdictions to work together on mutually beneficial projects, while growing all participants' ability to use and share population health data July 2022 through June 2024 (state fiscal years 2023-2024) Participating community health board: Goodhue Expand a shared system to collect and study population health trends across Southeast Minnesota, helping communities more effectively share and use population health data to solve community health issues (visit: Southeast Minnesota Public Health Data [Olmsted County] ) July 2022 through June 2026 (state fiscal years 2023-2026); In July 2026, this innovation project became a permanent regional data model.

Participating community health boards: Dodge-Steele, Fillmore-Houston, Freeborn, Goodhue, Mower, Olmsted (fiscal host), Rice, Wabasha, Winona Association of Minnesota Counties Announces 2025 County Achievement Awards Regional Data Models Webinar (October 2025) Southeastern Minnesota: A Region Shares Data, Expertise, and Partnership [MDH] Olmsted County Pilots a Regional Population Health Data Hub to Improve Data Accessibility [ASTHO] Supporting Rural Counties Through a Regional Population Health Data Hub in Southeast Minnesota (24:42) [ASTHO] Related: Regional Models to Collect, Use, and Share Local Population Health Data About the Minnesota Public Health Infrastructure Fund The Minnesota Public Health Infrastructure Fund supports locally-led innovation projects to identify, test, and expand new ways of building capacity in foundational public health responsibilities.

SCHSAC and the Joint Leadership Team for Public Health System Transformation established the Minnesota Public Health Infrastructure Fund in 2021 to support locally-led projects that improve, pilot, or strengthen approaches to building foundational capacity , and that can share implications and lessons for the entire state public health system.

The Minnesota Public Health Infrastructure Fund is administered by the MDH Center for Public Health Practice .

Scope : Based on consultation with SCHSAC and informed by the Joint Leadership Team for System Transformation, applicants for funds are required to: Address an area or capability in the foundational public health responsibilities framework Collaborate across jurisdictions Demonstrate benefit to Minnesota’s public health system Demonstrate buy-in from others on how partner jurisdictions will benefit from the work Identify how proposed projects support the vision for a seamless, responsive, publicly-supported public health system Coaching and technical assistance : Grantees participate in regular check-ins with staff from the MDH Center for Public Health Practice, and participate in grantee meetings throughout the project.

Time frame : New projects are funded for two years with a two-year renewal option. Award amounts are likely to range between $100,000-$400,000/year, but applicants are encouraged to apply for the funds they need to ensure a successful project.

Current Minnesota Public Health Infrastructure Fund grantees, meaning those with active grant agreements, can only apply for continuing funding if they are in their first or second years of funding. Projects in their third year are not eligible for continued funding; the application would need to be for a new innovation project. Eligibility : Minnesota community health boards and Tribal Nations are eligible to apply.

2021 : The Minnesota Legislature recognized the important role of public health. In addition to other investments, the legislature provided a $6 million annual appropriation for community health boards and Tribal governments to build public health capacity; in its 2025 session, the Minnesota Legislature amended the funding to a $4 million annual appropriation.

The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) convened a group of State Community Health Advisory Committee (SCHSAC) Executive Committee members and public health leaders to determine the best use of these funds. Learn more: Funding public health in Minnesota: Strengthening our public health infrastructure (PDF) .

2022 : The Minnesota Public Health Infrastructure Fund distributed the first round of funding to support 16 new local innovation projects to identify, test, and expand new ways of building capacity in foundational public health responsibilities. 2023-2025 : Recognized growing evidence showing local, regional, and statewide benefits of working together regionally to build public health data capacity.

Minnesota Infrastructure Fund continues to invest in and learn from innovation projects supporting regional data collaboration . 2023 : SCHSAC, informed by Minnesota's Joint Leadership Team, developed recommendations for a new cycle of Minnesota Public Health Infrastructure Fund grants.

2024 : The Minnesota Public Health Infrastructure Fund distributed a second round of funding to 6 new and 7 continuing local innovation projects to identify, test, and expand new ways of building capacity in foundational public health responsibilities. 2025 : SCHSAC amends recommendations for the Minnesota Infrastructure Fund, to dedicate up to $1.

6 million annually for up to eight regional data models ($200,000 per region per year), on an ongoing basis. 2025 : The Minnesota Public Health Infrastructure Fund distributed a third round of funding to 10 new local innovation projects to identify, test, and expand new ways of building capacity in foundational public health responsibilities.

2026 : Four regional data models start operations, two of which have grown out of innovation projects. Today : The innovation projects above continue to challenge the status quo and develop novel, creative approaches to improving the state's public health system. How were these projects selected?

To select the specific projects noted above, MDH convened a broadly representative application review team that included: A SCHSAC representative to the Joint Leadership Team An MDH representative to the Joint Leadership Team An LPHA representative to the Joint Leadership Team A representative from the MDH Office of American Indian Health Local public health leaders and SCHSAC members from jurisdictions that are not applying for funds External partners with relevant knowledge and expertise Evaluation criteria include: Building capacity in a foundational responsibility, demonstration of organizational need and of how the proposed approach meets that need, identification of potential lessons learned for how to build capacity for foundational responsibilities statewide, consideration of health equity.

Learn more: State Infrastructure Fund Projects: Application and Request for Proposals