DATE: June 21, 2022
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: David Luchini, RN, PHN, Director, Department of Public Health
SUBJECT: Salary Resolution Amendment
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
Approve Amendment to the Salary Resolution adding one (1) Emergency Management Specialist I/II position and one (1) Program Technician I/II position and deleting one (1) Communicable Disease Specialist I/II position and one (1) Office Assistant I/II position to the Department of Public Health Org 5620, effective June 27, 2022, as reflected in Appendix C.
REPORT
There is no additional Net County Cost associated with the recommended action. Approval of the recommended action will amend Public Health’s Salary Resolution adding one Emergency Management Specialist (EMS) I/II position in the Emergency Services (ES) Division’s Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) Program to help coordinate planning, preparedness, response and recovery efforts for disasters and emergencies, and add one Program Technician (PT) I/II position to better support the Environmental Health (EH) Division with paraprofessional/technical work. The recommended action would also delete one Communicable Disease Specialist (CDS) I/II position added during the COVID-19 response and one long-time vacant Office Assistant (OA) I/II position no longer needed because of the expansion of technology and online resources. This item is countywide.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
There are no viable alternative actions. If the Board does not approve the recommended action, PHEP would not have the additional staffing needed to assist with preparedness of hospitals, as well as resource requests from the Medical/Health Operational Area Coordinator, two important tasks necessary to ensure public safety. The EH Division would also not have adequate staff to help provide support for the Division’s changing technology needs.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no increase in Net County Cost associated with the recommended action. The EMS I/II position is fully funded using PHEP grant monies. The PT I/II position will be funded through the collection of inspection permit fee revenue. Should funding for these positions be exhausted, the positions will be deleted. Sufficient appropriations and estimated revenues are included in the Department’s Org 5620 FY 2021-2022 Adopted Budget and will be accounted for in subsequent budget requests.
DISCUSSION:
The Department conducted an assessment of current programs and determined the appropriate classifications necessary to operate and provide services efficiently to the PHEP Program and EH Division are an EMS I/II and a PT I/II. Approval of the recommended action will achieve two staffing objectives.
The Department receives Federal PHEP grant funds which includes funding for the Hospital Preparedness Program to support the preparedness of hospitals during a large-scale event, as well as response planning and mitigation of prehospital resources. During the County’s COVID-19 response efforts, the Department determined that public health staffing was limited. The PHEP grant has historically provided funding for a position to meet this need and included a Health Education Specialist (HES) position in its budget for years. Several years ago, the HES position was deleted when the Department determined it was the wrong classification to meet the Program’s needs and achieve the Program’s goals.
On March 22, 2022, your Board approved creating the EMS I/II classification which includes the ideal skills and experience required to be successful in the PHEP program. The EMS I/II will be responsible for providing assistance in planning, exercising and evaluating hospital and prehospital policies and procedures related to emergency events. The position will also be assigned to assist the Medical/Health Operational Area Coordinator (MHOAC) with resource requests during emergency events and assist in the coordination or response on recovery efforts that impact the County.
The PT I/II position will be assigned to the EH Division and will be responsible for providing paraprofessional and technical work in support of the Division’s objectives. These duties will include reviewing and maintaining program transactions, records and other documents, as well as the preparation and maintenance of data, reports, special studies and research. The division recently moved from a paper-based inspection reporting process to an online system (Amanda 7, or “A7”). Previously, all inspection reports required manual scanning and filing of these paper documents, necessitating the use of OAs for clerical functions. A7 greatly reduced the need for manual scanning and indexing of paper documents. The new software program requires the ability to assist in the development of reports and extrapolation of data from the A7 database, troubleshoot and assist with A7 maintenance and upgrades and run, interpret, and format reports and statistics for Environmental Health staff. A PT position is better equipped to handle the needed work.
REFERENCE MATERIAL:
BAI #43, March 22, 2022
BAI #7, November 16, 2021
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE:
Salary Resolution Amendment - Appendix C
CAO ANALYST:
Ron Alexander