Designing a surveillance system to enable periodic enumeration and profiling of the nation's public health workforce

The Center of Excellence In Public Health Workforce Research and Policy (COEWRP) at the University of Kentucky College of Public Health in collaboration with its sister COE, the Center of Excellence in Public Health Workforce Studies at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, was tasked by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to design a sustainable surveillance system that would enable periodic enumeration and profiling of the nation's public health workforce. This report will describe the process the COEs undertook and the preliminary outcomes from their work. Difficulties in obtaining data and gaps in the availability of data about the workforce will also be discussed. Recommendations for next steps in the process of surveillance system design and pilot testing will be provided. COEWRP was founded in 2008 with funding from CDC through a cooperative agreement with the Public Health Foundation (PHF). In Year 3, HRSA joined CDC as a funding partner.