New York (AP) – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was shaken by five high -level starts Tuesday in the last turmoil for the best public health agency in the country.
Departures were announced at a meeting of senior leaders of the agency. THE CDC based on Atlanta To two dozen centers and offices. The heads of five of them are breaking down, which follows three other starts in recent weeks. This means that almost a third of the agency’s senior management leaves or leaves recently.
Departures – described as pensions – have not been announced publicly. The Associated Press confirmed the news with two CDC officials who were not allowed to discuss it and spoke under the cover of anonymity.
The announcements come one day after the White House announced that it has appointed Susan Monarez be director of the CDC. But it is not clear how much influence, if necessary, which had on the decision of the leaders to leave. The Trump administration earlier this month withdrew his appointment from the former member of the Florida Congress, Dr. David Weldon, just before a Senate hearing.
CDC employees – including organizational leaders – have prepared for moves from the Trump administration to dismiss the staff and perhaps reorganize demographicly. The managers of the White House are examining a proposal to reduce the workforce for the CDC and other federal health agencies that were submitted earlier this month. Its content has not been disclosed.
“The challenges for these people to do their work daily must be enormous,” said Jason Schwartz, a health policy researcher at Yale University who studies government health agencies. “The future of the CDC is threatened, by any measure. It is understandable why individuals can decide to move on rather than seeing the agency reduced in its works, its resources, and its ability to do its job.”
But losing a certain number of experienced leaders is clearly an additional blow to an already besieged agency, added Schwartz.
The last starts include:
– Leslie Ann Dauphin, who oversees the public health infrastructure center and more than 500 employees. This center coordinates the funding, strategy and technical assistance of the CDC to national, local and territorial health services.
– Dr. Karen Rémrey, who heads the National Center for Congenital Malforms and Development Disorders. At the start of the year, the center had more than 220 full -time employees.
– Sam Posner, who runs the science office. More than 100 CDC employees work on research and scientific policy and publish the Weekly Morbidity and Mortality report.
– Debra Lubar, who heads the Policy, Performance and Evaluation Office of 65 people.
– Leandris Liburd, head of the health equity office, with around 40 employees. Liburd played the role in 2020, as part of an effort to fight against the number of disproportionate deaths of the Covid-19 pandemic on blacks, Hispanics and the Amerindians.
Adding to that: Kevin Griffis, head of the CDC communications office, left last week. Robin Bailey, the agency’s head of the agency, left at the end of last month. Dr. Nirav Shah, a former main assistant director of the CDC, who was the main voice of the agency on an animal flu epidemic evolving of animals which also reported at least 70 people in the United States
The CDC, with a basic budget of more than $ 9 billion, is responsible for protecting Americans from epidemics from diseases and other public health threats. At the start of this year, it had more than 13,000 employees and nearly 13,000 other contractual workers.
At least 550 probationary employees were dismissed in February, although these layoffs were disputed in prosecution and two federal judges ordered that employees are reintegrated. According to some of Employee licenseeThis has not yet occurred, although the United States Ministry of Health and Social Services – following legal orders – extended their administrative leave.
“It would be reckless to predict what the CDC will look like in a few months, not to mention a few years, said Schwartz. But it is understandable that senior leaders “may not want to register for this,” he added.
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