In 2008, candidate Barack Obama promised to make public health a priority.

He championed government investment to boost the pool of public health workers — already short on epidemiologists, biostatisticians, toxicologists, nutritionists, and environmental and maternal health specialists.

The Association of Schools of Public Health warned of a "looming workforce crisis."

And that was before a sustained economic downturn strained state and local governments, and in turn the public health workforce.

Still, the Affordable Care Act included "significant help" toward recruitment of public health workers, said Michael Stephens, senior director for policy for the association.

Obamacare's Prevention and Public Health Fund in 2012 put more than $50 million toward the challenge, including:

• $25 million for fellowships sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to train public health professionals.

• $23.9 million for the Health Resources and Services Administration to support public health training centers.

• $1.1 million to HRSA for public health traineeships to boost the number of professionals in underserved public health fields.

It's still a challenging time for public health. But Obama's health care law represented a "positive response," Stephens said. We rate this Promise Kept.