Special Notice / Hearing: None__
Vote Required: Majority
To: Honorable Board of Supervisors
From: Louise F. Rogers, Chief, San Mateo County Health
Cassius Lockett, Director, Public Health, Policy and Planning
Subject: Approval for Public Health COVID Contract Tracing Staffing
RECOMMENDATION:
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Adopt a resolution authorizing an amendment to Master Salary Resolution 076798 to add nine positions to the Public Health Communicable Disease and Epidemiology Programs.
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BACKGROUND:
On May 26, 2020, County Health addressed the Board with its proposed plan to increase the contact investigation and tracing workforce of the Public Health Division's Communicable Disease Control Program as needed for the COVID-19 mitigation strategy. The purpose of this memo is to present an amendment to the Master Salary Resolution that enables Public Health to increase staffing capacity required for contact investigation and tracing.
Contact investigation and tracing are core capabilities of the Public Health infrastructure needed to respond to and control the spread of COVID-19. In San Mateo County, contact investigation and tracing has been one of the Public Health Communicable Disease Control Program's tools for responding to any one of the 87 communicable diseases they address each year. The COVID-19 pandemic requires scaling up that capability. Public Health has already expanded from a baseline workforce of 8.0 FTEs originally doing contact tracing and investigation work to 30 FTEs.
DISCUSSION:
Given current State recommendations for contact tracing, we believe we should expand the existing 30 communicable disease FTE by up to 85 FTE as needed to reach 230 new cases per day expanding the COVID19 contact tracing and investigation workforce up to 115 FTE in San Mateo County. To accomplish this goal, Health aims to recruit 150 staff in two phases with 115 being a desired outcome given turnover and other constraints. Health has been working with Hu...
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