Thursday, December 26, 2024
12/26/2024
Since 2006, Puerto Rico has been hit by an economic crisis that forced the government to make tough but necessary decisions regarding its spending while promoting better use of scarce resources. As a result, a significant number of government employees were laid off, causing the Puerto Rico Department of Health (PRDOH) to face an ever-increasing staff shortage. In addition, the results of an organizational capacity analysis show that the average age of PRDOH current staff is 52 years and they have an average of 21 years of experience in government. This has led to an aging of human resources and a looming loss of knowledge and institutional memory. In 2017, hurricanes Irma and Maria destroyed large parts of the island, leaving many Puerto Ricans without a safe place to live and triggering a significant brain drain to the mainland to find better job opportunities. An earthquake swarm hit southern Puerto Rico in early 2020, and a lockdown was declared in the first quarter of that year as a COVID -19 prevention and control strategy. The COVID -19 pandemic highlighted the vulnerability of health care workers, who were the population most affected by the SARS-COV -2, more likely to be infected, and faced unfavorable working conditions due to labor shortages. COVID The -19 pandemic placed a great burden not only on governments, but also on health systems, which, as in the case of Puerto Rico, have fragile infrastructure. The shortage of health professionals has become one of the main problems not only in Puerto Rico, but worldwide, as it has a great impact on global health security. The strain placed on Puerto Rico's public health system by recent threats to public health has exacerbated inequities for marginalized populations. To meet the needs of the population, it is critical to implement a realistic succession plan to increase infrastructure capacity, which would not be possible without the support of state and federal funds allocations (Component A.1: Workforce). In addition, with this funding opportunity, the PRDOH would continue to advance the accreditation process that began in 2019 (Component A.2: Foundational Capabilities), which would impact other essential capabilities that would create the necessary infrastructure to provide equitable and essential public health services. Finally, this opportunity would allow the groundwork to be laid for any data modernization initiative to prevent further degradation of the PRDOH IT infrastructure (Component A.3: Data Modernization). One hundred seventy-one (171) public health professionals will be recruited and retained through these project funds: one hundred forty-nine (149) for Component A.1: Workforce, nineteen (19) for Component A.2: Foundational Capabilities and three (3) for Component A.3: Data Modernization. These professional staff include the following classification categories: agency leadership and management, office and administrative support, business and financial operations, epidemiologists, statisticians, data scientists and other data analysts, information technology and data system data systems staff, public information and public policy staff, behavioral health and social services, public health clinicians, environmental health workers, animal control and compliance/inspection staff and other uncategorized professionals.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).