The above links will take you to the Center for the Health Professions site.

Assessing Public Health Workforce Needs in California

A supply of well-prepared public health professionals is essential to an effective public health system in America. There have been growing concerns with the adequacy of the public health infrastructure, including the public health workforce. While the recent terrorist attacks and concern with bioterrorism have made the country more acutely aware of the important responsibilities of the nation's public health system, there have been concerns with the adequacy of the public health workforce, both in terms of number of workers and their skills and competencies, for many years.

In fact, over the past decade, there have been a number of major studies of the public health workforce designed to help the health community better understand the supply and composition of the workforce, their functions, and the adequacy of their preparation to carry out their duties. However, these efforts have been complicated by the fact that the public health workforce is not easily defined or measured. It is a very diverse workforce working in many settings, providing a wide range of services. Public health workers are not generally licensed, which would otherwise facilitate the counting and study of this workforce. Responsibilities are shared between state and local agencies and the private sector, with major state-by-state variations in responsibility among these three groups, compounding the difficulty of counting and tracking the public health workforce. Additionally, responsibilities can vary within a state between rural and urban locations.

The National Center for Health Workforce Analysis in the Bureau of Health Professions, Health Services and Resources Administration awarded a grant to the Center for Health Workforce Studies at the School of Public Health, University of Albany, State University of New York to conduct a national study of public health professional workforce supply and needs in local public health agencies, particularly public health physicians, dentists and nurses, and those with a Master's Degree in Public Health (MPH). A major goal of the study is to better understand the unique role that these professionals play in the public health sector, and to quantify differences in staffing in light of organizational responsibilities and relationships as well as the size and characteristics of the population and region served by the agency. The Center for California Health Workforce Studies has been awarded a sub-grant of this larger project to conduct fieldwork in California.

Specific goals of the project include the description and analysis of the following:

1. The organization of public health service delivery, including the numbers and types of agencies and the numbers and types of staff.
2. The identification of the roles, functions, and services of state departments of health and local public health departments.
3. The identification of staffing patterns, with special attention to public health nurses, public health physicians, public health dentists, and those with a MPH.
4. The recruitment and retention issues related to professionals in public health practice at the state and local levels.
5. The development of education and training programs for public health professionals and occupations including continuing education.

Publications:
The final report is expected in September 2003.

Project Staff:
Kevin Grumbach, MD, Principal Investigator
Beth Mertz, MA, Project Director
Robyn Gerdes, MPH(Cand.) Research Analyst

Funding:
National Center for Health Workforce Analysis, Bureau of the Health Professions, Health Resources and Services Administration

Final study Description: http://chws.albany.edu/index.php?pub_health
Full Report: http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/healthworkforce/reports/publichealth/default.htm