Public Health Administrator's Survival Kit

As a primer public health agency leader, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Global AIDS Program (GAP) has been supporting multi-faceted approaches to combating the international HIV/AIDS pandemic since the 1990s. With GAP's highly-trained specialists working at headquarters in more than 25 field and 3 regional offices totaling over 1,670 staff, assist national strategies for sustainable, integrated HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and treatment programs. With GAP's daunting mission and its phenomenal growth, we described how one of it's internal Departments, the Epidemiology and Strategic Information Branch's 4 programs (surveillance, monitoring and evaluation, statistics, and health management information systems), with a budget of over $14,647,121 and a staff of 60 tackle administrative challenges. By utilizing Situational Analysis Modeling, a cutting edge operational plan was formulated to address workforce innovation, global communication, financial management, and quality improvement.

Pre-existing tools were utilized such as e-portals (e.g. pepfar.net) and e-mail management (e.g. Outlook) to organize and streamline a multitude of information types including documents, emails, briefings, directories, partnerships, calendars, podcasts, discussion forums, and training. Moreover, we standardized the usage of international mobile telecommunication carriers, provided quarterly operational updates, created staff handbooks, and developed a hiring database which has lead to more effective branch cohesiveness, and robust collaborations with external partners. To combat a myriad of fiscal legislative mandates, rigorous financial tracking mechanisms were developed using excel spreadsheets to consolidate internal funding streams and to meet cost allocation ceilings. Periodic updating and distribution of these spreadsheets allowed a more transparent budgetary environment for the decision makers to exercise sound financial stewardship.

In conclusion, innovative use of these existing administrative tools have resulted in more sustainable operational efficiencies and provided an open environment for organizational excellence in leadership, communication and accountability. These tools can easily be incorporated synergistically from local to global public health arenas.