On June 30, 2022, the majority of the Health District’s remaining temporary COVID staff contracts came to an end. These staffing positions supported case and contact investigations, outbreak reporting, and community education.

As the District continues to absorb COVID 19 response activities in to its steady-state operations, a need has been identified to retain some capacity to complete Department of Health (DOH) requirements which are currently outside of our normal staffing levels and also provide continued support to high-risk populations in the community. The proposed positions would create a small, temporary COVID-19 response team housed under Prevention Services. Proposed positions include:

• 1 supervisor
• 4 disease intervention specialists to support schools, childcare providers, and long-term care facilities
• 1 epidemiologist (continued contract for the current incumbent)
• 1 data support specialist (continued contract for current incumbent)
• 1 program assistant 

Activities of this team would include:

• Fulfilling ongoing requirements from DOH related to reporting and tracking outbreaks
• Providing support for cases and outbreaks occurring in high impact settings such as childcares, schools, and long-term care facilities
• Providing Infection Control Assessment and Response (ICAR) surveys in healthcare settings
• Maintaining and updating resources and communications to support community partners

In addition, the Health District’s public records program with the Administration division has seen an increase in requests since the start of the pandemic and has been utilizing temporary agency staff to fulfill these requests. The additional help has been an invaluable resource and staff would like to hire a 1.0 FTE public records specialist to assist in collecting, scanning, and responding to requestors. Below is data representing the increase in number of public records requests across the Health District.

The funds to support these positions are included in amendment #5 of the DOH consolidated contract with the District receiving an allocation increase of $684,964 to its existing DOH’s Division of Disease Control and Health Statistics Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity (DCHS-ELC) funds to be spent by December 31, 2022. 

Consistent with Resolution 19-20 and the revised Division of Responsibilities (10/8/19), the Board of Health has authority over the Health District budget.

MOVE TO authorize the Administrative Officer to hire term-limited positions to support COVID-19 response activities.