Jose Figueroa, Associate Professor of Health Policy and Management, chats about current and future research and finding solutions to real-world public health challenges. 

Q: What’s a real-world problem that your current research is trying to solve, and how would you explain it to someone outside of public health?
A: Climate change is driving more frequent and severe disasters, including hurricanes, floods, wildfires, and extreme winter storms. While the immediate destruction is often visible, we know surprisingly much less about how these events disrupt health care systems and the lasting consequences for people's health. Therefore, our research examines what happens when hospitals lose power, clinics close, roads become impassable, or patients cannot access medications or routine medical care. We use large national healthcare datasets to measure the health consequences of these disruptions. For example, in a recent study of Winter Storm Uri in Texas, we found that older adults living in counties with widespread power outages experienced higher rates of hospitalization and death than those in counties where the electrical grid remained operational. By identifying where and why these disruptions occur, our goal is to help communities and health systems better prepare for future disasters and reduce preventable illness and death.

Q: Why does this work matter now, and how could it change the way we think about health policy, and/or your specific area of work, in our daily lives?
A: This work matters because climate disasters are no longer rare event, and instead, becoming part of everyday life. Yet our healthcare and insurance systems were largely built around the assumption that people live in one place and receive care from a fixed network of doctors, hospitals, and pharmacies. That model breaks down when disasters force people to evacuate or when local healthcare infrastructure becomes unavailable. Someone undergoing chemotherapy, receiving dialysis, or simply trying to refill an essential medication may suddenly be unable to access covered care. While governments often introduce temporary emergency protections, those policies are typically short-lived and implemented inconsistently. Our research is helping policymakers understand that climate resilience is not just about strengthening roads, bridges, and the electrical grid. It also requires building a healthcare and insurance system that remains functional when people are displaced. Ultimately, we hope this evidence leads to policies that ensure patients can continue receiving essential care regardless of where a disaster forces them to go, especially for older adults and other vulnerable populations who have the most to lose.

Q: Looking ahead, what change or impact do you hope your research will lead to in the next five to ten years?
A: Over the next five to ten years, I hope our research helps shift the conversation from simply responding to disasters to building healthcare systems that are resilient before disasters occur. That means using evidence to guide policies that ensure people can continue receiving essential care even if they are displaced from their homes or their local healthcare system is disrupted. A hurricane or wildfire should never mean that someone loses access to dialysis, chemotherapy, or the medications they need to stay alive simply because they are outside their insurance network. I also hope our work broadens how policymakers think about climate adaptation. Our research suggests that investments outside the healthcare system (such as strengthening the electrical grid) can have profound health benefits. In our study of the Great Texas Freeze, communities that maintained power were largely protected from the increases in mortality seen elsewhere, highlighting that reliable infrastructure can save lives. Ultimately, I hope our work helps build policies that recognize climate resilience, healthcare delivery, and public health as inseparable, particularly for older adults and other vulnerable populations.