DATE: September 22, 2020
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: David Pomaville, Director, Department of Public Health
SUBJECT: Salary Resolution Amendment
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
Approve Amendment to the Salary Resolution adding 8 Communicable Disease Specialist I/II and 4 Health Education Specialist positions to the Public Health’s Org 5620, effective October 5, 2020, as reflected in Appendix C.
REPORT
Approval of the recommended action will add eight Communicable Disease Specialist I/II positions and four Health Education Specialist positions to assist with the management of the COVID-19 pandemic response. The recommended Communicable Disease Specialists will act as team leads and provide mentorship to investigation and tracing staff as response staff continue to rotate on and off COVID-19 duties. The recommended Health Education Specialists will coordinate and manage all COVID-19 training for both county staff and contracted staff. This item is Countywide.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
Should your Board not approve the recommended action, the Department’s response coordination will be negatively impacted from the continued loss of knowledge and expertise as staff rotate off COVID-19 duties and resume their normal roles.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no increase in Net County Cost associated with the recommended action. The total annual cost for the twelve positions is $959,028. The positions will be funded with CARES Act funding through December 30, 2020, with the potential for extension if additional federal funds are approved either through CARES Act or other funding. Sufficient appropriations and estimated revenues were included in the Department’s Org 5620 FY 2020-21 Adopted Budget.
DISCUSSION:
With your Board’s approval, the Department will add a total of twelve permanent front-line staff positions to the COVID-19 response effort. The eight recommended Communicable Disease Specialist I/II positions will serve as team leaders among medical investigations and contact tracing staff, which is mostly comprised of temporary, contracted and reassigned County staff. These team leaders will provide necessary mentorship and guidance during the length of the pandemic. They will be primary sources of knowledge and expertise for new and existing staff; they will keep their teams apprised of changes in guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and related local Health Officer Orders related to COVID-19. The recommended Communicable Disease Specialists will help their teams troubleshoot difficult cases to enable and achieve maximum voluntary compliance with isolation and quarantine mandates. The team leads will also provide assistance with data entry into multiple state and local database systems to ensure data integrity, and will assist COVID branch supervisors in identifying potential staffing issues to ensure an efficient workflow.
The four recommended Health Education Specialists will focus on the training and onboarding of new staff for COVID response. This will include planning, development, implementation, evaluation and modification of Medical Investigation and Contact Tracing workflows. The Training Team will also mentor and assist investigators during the onboarding and training period.
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE:
Appendix C
CAO ANALYST:
Raul Guerra