Special Notice / Hearing: None__
Vote Required: Majority
To: Honorable Board of Supervisors
From: Louise F. Rogers, Chief, San Mateo County Health
Marc Meulman, Director, Public Health Policy, and Planning
Subject: Acceptance of the Grant from the California Department of Public Health Future of Public Health Funding for Public Health Workforce and Infrastructure
RECOMMENDATION:
title
Recommendation to:
A) Adopt a resolution authorizing and directing the Chief of San Mateo County Health, or designee, to accept a grant from the California Department of Public Health Future of Public Health to provide ongoing funding to strengthen public health infrastructure for the term of July 1, 2022, through June 30, 2023, in an amount not to exceed $3,141,653; and
B) Approve an Appropriation Transfer Request in the amount of $3,269,697, recognizing unanticipated revenue from the California Department of Public Health, Health Care for the Homeless funds, Vital Records fees, and associated expenditures; and
C) Adopt a resolution authorizing an amendment to Master Salary Resolution 079043 to add 13 positions in Public Health Policy and Planning.
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BACKGROUND:
On May 26, 2020, County Health addressed the Board with its proposal to increase the communicable disease control and epidemiology workforce within the Public Health, Policy and Planning (PHPP) division as needed for COVID-19 mitigation strategies. As a result, on June 23, 2020, the Board adopted Resolution 076798 to: (1) add nine positions to PHPP Communicable Disease and Epidemiology programs; and (2) accept one-time California Department of Public Health (CDPH) Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity (ELC) Phase I grant funds to increase staffing capacity required for pandemic response.
On June 8, 2021, County Health brought forward the acceptance of one-time CDPH ELC Phase II grant funds recognizing the need for larger, longer-term investments, in addition to ELC Phase I, for infrastructure capacity building.
In recognition of the need for sustainable funding to enhance public health infrastructure throughout the State, CDPH announced that it would be making available $200,400,000 in Future of Public Health funding to local health jurisdictions, allocated according to the most recent population and poverty data. County Health will be receiving $3,141,653 of this allocation. This Future of Public Health funding is expected to be ongoing, to continue to fulfill core public health functions, enhance public safety and prevention, address gaps identified by the pandemic, and build emergency response surge needs.
In addition to these Future of Public Health Funds, PHPP also has received Vital Records fees on an ongoing, sustainable basis and Healthcare for the Homeless (HCH) grant funds.
DISCUSSION:
County Health proposes to use the Future of Public Health funding, supplemented by the Vital Records fees and the HCH funds, to sustain the nine permanent positions previously created under Resolution 076798, and add 13 new permanent positions. Sustainment of the nine existing positions will allow the staffing and supervisory structure, currently funded with temporary funding sources, that developed as a result of COVID-19 mitigation efforts to continue to ensure enhanced public health infrastructure and readiness for future public health emergencies.
The nine sustained positions and ten of the 13 new positions will be within Public Health Communicable Disease, Public Health Laboratory, Epidemiology, and Finance and Administration teams, to strengthen the County’s public health infrastructure. Specifically, these 10 positions will be devoted to strengthening:
• Epidemiology capacity to inform health equity strategies through data analysis and reporting.
• Improved public safety through disease control and prevention.
• A dedicated communication and education resource related to improved information for the public about disease prevention.
• A dedicated infection preventionist resource to support skilled nursing facilities and other high-risk settings.
• Greater public health surveillance capability (whole genome sequencing, wastewater, bio-terrorism testing, epidemiology assessment, etc.).
• Improved information technology support for public health programs and services.
The remaining 3 out of 13 new positions will be within the Vital Records and Mobile Clinics programs and devoted to:
• Sustain clinical support to persons experiencing homelessness and other hard-to-reach populations; and
• Sustain support for birth and death registration activities and certificates.
The attached Appropriation Transfer Request (ATR) recognizes the amount of Future of Public Health, Vital Records fees, and Healthcare for the Homeless grant funds necessary in FY 2022-23 to sustain and strengthen staffing within the public health programs.
While CDPH has not yet requested a signed contract, it is anticipated there will be documentation required to accept the funding retroactively and hereby request that your Board authorize the Chief of San Mateo County Health or designee to execute any and all documents required by CDPH to accept these funds.
The resolution has been reviewed and approved by the County Attorney as to form.
It is anticipated that the number of infections reported to PHPP Communicable Disease Control (excluding COVID-19) will increase by 5% from 2,755 reports in 2021 to 2,893 in 2022.
PERFORMANCE MEASURE:
|
Measure |
CY 2021 |
CY 2022 |
|
|
Actual |
Projected |
|
Communicable Disease Reported Infections (not including COVID-19) |
2,755 |
2,893 |
|
|
|
|
FISCAL IMPACT:
The term for the Future of Public Health grant is July 1, 2022, through June 30, 2023. The amount of the agreement is not to exceed $3,141,653 for the one-year term. This ATR increases the budget in PHPP subunit 5550B by $3,269,697. All expenditures are 100% funded by the Future of Public Health ($3,141,653), Vital Records fees ($49,144), and Healthcare for the Homeless grant funds ($78,900). Since the County is receiving these funds and no matching funds are required, there is no Net County Cost associated with this grant and associated positions.