Abstract
The emergence of public health institutes outside government is one of many innovative approaches to promote community health improvement. This article describes the state of Virginia's current model of government public health and provides a context for Virginia's approach to the Turning Point initiative. The article explores the reasons why Virginia chose to establish its public health institute outside government and demonstrates how development of the institute is changing community health improvement in the state. The article also describes a new initiative to create a national network of public health institutes.