IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i20p13592-d947874.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Enumeration of the Public Health Workforce in New York State: Workforce Changes in the Wake of COVID-19

Author

Listed:
  • Isaac Michaels

    (Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University at Albany School of Public Health, Rensselaer, NY 12144, USA)

  • Sylvia Pirani

    (Region 2 Public Health Training Center (PHTC), New York, NY 10032, USA)

  • Molly Fleming

    (Region 2 Public Health Training Center (PHTC), New York, NY 10032, USA
    New York State Association of County Health Officials (NYSACHO), Albany, NY 12110, USA)

  • Mayela M. Arana

    (Region 2 Public Health Training Center (PHTC), New York, NY 10032, USA
    Department of Sociomedical Sciences, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY 10032, USA)

  • Emily D’Angelo

    (Region 2 Public Health Training Center (PHTC), New York, NY 10032, USA
    New York State Association of County Health Officials (NYSACHO), Albany, NY 12110, USA)

  • Cristina Dyer-Drobnack

    (Region 2 Public Health Training Center (PHTC), New York, NY 10032, USA
    New York State Association of County Health Officials (NYSACHO), Albany, NY 12110, USA)

  • Margaret DiManno

    (Region 2 Public Health Training Center (PHTC), New York, NY 10032, USA
    New York State Association of County Health Officials (NYSACHO), Albany, NY 12110, USA)

  • Sarah Ravenhall

    (Region 2 Public Health Training Center (PHTC), New York, NY 10032, USA
    New York State Association of County Health Officials (NYSACHO), Albany, NY 12110, USA)

  • Christian T. Gloria

    (Region 2 Public Health Training Center (PHTC), New York, NY 10032, USA
    Department of Sociomedical Sciences, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY 10032, USA)

Abstract

The governmental public health workforce in the United States has faced staffing shortages for over a decade that have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. To assess this critical issue, the Region 2 Public Health Training Center collaborated with the New York State Association of County Health Officials to enumerate the city and county public health workforce in New York State. The organizations used an online survey to: (1) count employees and full-time equivalent (FTEs) staff in local health departments in 2021; (2) assess workforce trends since the COVID-19 pandemic; and, (3) identify challenges local health departments encounter in recruiting and retaining qualified public health workers. To assess trends, findings were compared with secondary data from 2019. Despite playing a central role in COVID-19 mitigation, local health departments experienced no overall increase in staffing in 2021 compared to 2019, with many health departments experiencing large increases in vacant positions. Recruitment challenges include noncompetitive salaries, difficulties finding qualified candidates, and lengthy hiring processes. This study complements accumulating evidence indicating that long-term investment in local public health infrastructure is needed to bolster the workforce and ensure that communities are protected from current and future health threats.

Suggested Citation

  • Isaac Michaels & Sylvia Pirani & Molly Fleming & Mayela M. Arana & Emily D’Angelo & Cristina Dyer-Drobnack & Margaret DiManno & Sarah Ravenhall & Christian T. Gloria, 2022. "Enumeration of the Public Health Workforce in New York State: Workforce Changes in the Wake of COVID-19," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-14, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:20:p:13592-:d:947874
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/20/13592/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/20/13592/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sumaya, C.V., 2012. "Enumeration and composition of the public health workforce: Challenges and strategies," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 102(3), pages 469-474.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Tit Albreht, 2023. "Challenges to Global Health Emerging from the COVID-19 Pandemic," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-16, May.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Santric Milicevic, Milena & Vasic, Milena & Edwards, Matt & Sanchez, Cristina & Fellows, John, 2018. "Strengthening the public health workforce: An estimation of the long-term requirements for public health specialists in Serbia," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 122(6), pages 674-680.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:20:p:13592-:d:947874. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.