The Snohomish Health District is currently recruiting for two full-time public health nurse positions in its tuberculosis program and waiting for one public health nurse who will start in September. Due to the high-risk nature of tuberculosis patients, the District needs to obtain temporary support from other areas while we continue to recruit for permanent public health nursing positions.
Staffing for these positions has historically been challenging and staff would like to request the flexibility to utilize the two proposed options, below:
- Public Health support from another Local Health Jurisdiction or the Washington State Department of Health
Staff are currently reaching out to other local health jurisdictions and the Department of Health to see if they have any nursing staff that would be available to help support this work. The cost of this is currently unknown, and would also need to include any mileage for the individual(s) to travel to Snohomish County, as needed. Staff estimate the total cost to be in the range of $2,000 to $4,000 per month.
- Contract with Maxim for a public health nurse
Maxim Healthcare Services, a temporary staffing agency the Health District previously contracted with for COVID staffing support services, could also potentially provide temporary staff for tuberculosis as well. The estimated cost is $90 an hour for a public health nurse.
Funding for these staffing options would come from current agency funding for the tuberculosis program. The desired number of temporary positions to support this work would be no more than three and the total amount would not exceed $50,000 for the rest of 2022. Due to staffing vacancies, there is a slight funding surplus in this program and these temporary positions would be supported by current agency funding for the tuberculosis program. The positions would be through the end of the year.