The Trump administration\u2019s sudden firing of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention employees gutted training programs across the nation whose participants bolstered the workforce of state and local public health departments that for decades have been starved of resources. <\/p>\n
The programs are designed to cultivate a new generation of public health leaders, many of whom have gone on to work at the CDC. That was far from its only purpose. Local and state officials said the departures threaten to undermine the nation\u2019s constant effort to identify and control infectious disease outbreaks. <\/p>\n
The terminated CDC employees helped prevent and respond to outbreaks such as dengue fever and the flu. They worked with local officials to quickly test for viruses and ensure that testing in public health labs complies with federal regulations. Others monitored potential cases of tuberculosis or provided health education to adolescents to prevent sexually transmitted infections, according to interviews with fired workers and local public health officials. <\/p>\n
As a CDC public health adviser, Ga\u00ebl Cruanes had been working at New York City\u2019s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to detect cases of tuberculosis, a serious illness that spreads through the air and usually attacks the lungs. <\/p>\n
The Public Health Associate Program deploys recent college graduates and other early-career workers for two years. After starting his job in October, Cruanes said, he contacted newly arrived immigrants and refugees potentially at risk of spreading TB in hopes of getting them into the city\u2019s clinics for screening. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s purely for the safety of the public at the end of the day,\u201d Cruanes said. He and other trainees were fired in mid-February. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s unconscionable,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services, Andrew Nixon, declined to comment. The White House and CDC didn\u2019t respond to requests for comment. <\/p>\n
The Trump administration\u2019s swift staff reductions in February targeted probationary employees, many hired in the past two years, who lack civil service protections against firings. The administration on Feb. 26 ordered federal agencies to submit plans by mid-March for large-scale layoffs, a move that could encompass a much broader swath of workers. <\/p>\n
Seven CDC employees \u2014 including from the associate program \u2014 assigned to the New York City health department were terminated, Michelle Morse, the agency\u2019s acting commissioner, testified during a City Council hearing Feb. 19. <\/p>\n
In an interview, Morse said the health department was exploring how to retain them. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re looking into what the CDC could do,\u201d she said, \u201cbut we are really just trying to use our own levers that we have within the health department to see what\u2019s possible for those staff.\u201d <\/p>\n
Since its creation in 2007, the Public Health Associate Program has placed 1,800 people in nearly every state and territory, plus the District of Columbia, according to the CDC. <\/p>\n
The sudden firings meant \u201cthere was no lead time to try to figure out what we\u2019re going to do,\u201d said Anissa Davis, the city health officer at the Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services in California. <\/p>\n
Three participants of the associate program worked at the Long Beach department, Davis said. A CDC public health adviser was one of four employees working on sexually transmitted infections and HIV surveillance. Two others were with the 13-person communicable disease control team, which includes staff who respond to outbreaks in nursing homes, hospitals, restaurants, and schools, Davis said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey are invaluable,\u201d Davis said. \u201cPublic health is always under-resourced so having these people really helps us.\u201d <\/p>\n
The U.S. public health system was already under severe strain at the onset of the covid-19 pandemic \u2014 tens of thousands of jobs disappeared after the 2007-09 recession hit, and spending also dropped significantly for state and local health departments, according to a KFF Health News investigation. The backlash against pandemic-era restrictions drove many more officials to resign or retire. Others were fired. Still, officials said the pandemic also inspired some to pursue public health careers. <\/p>\n
Scientists in the CDC\u2019s Laboratory Leadership Service program were also fired in February. The CDC in 2015 started the two-year training fellowship to improve lab safety and quality following a series of failures, including in 2014 when CDC staff in Atlanta were potentially exposed to anthrax. The program each year recruits a small number of doctorate-level scientists; several work in state or local health departments. <\/p>\n
At least 16 of 24 fellows in the program were fired in mid-February, according to two scientists who were terminated and spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of professional retaliation. \u201cNow we can\u2019t be a resource for these labs anymore,\u201d one of them said. <\/p>\n
Public health labs need the CDC scientists \u201cbecause they\u2019re underfunded, understaffed,\u201d the other said. \u201cThey are at their capacity already.\u201d <\/p>\n