The Fulton County Board of Health (FCBOH) operates as an independent agency governed by the state of Georgia as a Health Department for best practices and policies and to assist with state or national disasters. As the largest health district of 18 public health districts in Georgia, FCBOH serves more than one million citizens who reside in Fulton County through eight state-of the-art health centers. FBCOH is the only Board of Health that serves the City of Atlanta and Fulton County, Georgia. With approximately 498,602 residents according to the 2020 United States Census Bureau, the population of the City of Atlanta has a history of rapid growth and is projected to continue to grow exponentially compared to the national average. Located in the north-central part of the state, the city of Atlanta encompasses approximately 136.3 square miles and is diverse geographically, racially, ethnically, economically, and educationally. FCBOH’s mission is that All People are Healthy with a supporting goal to protect residents from health threats, increase access to health services to improve health outcomes and provide information that assists Fulton County citizens in living healthier lives. FCBOH’s 2021 fiscal year budget was $50M and supports approximately 289 employees in various departments and agencies that provide a continuum of comprehensive health services to a diverse community.
FCBOH proposes to improve their workforce infrastructure to accelerate prevention, preparedness, and response to emerging threats and better meet the ongoing and future public health needs of the communities and populations they serve. FCBOH plans to achieve this by using data and evidence to drive planning and implementation; ensure that partnerships are expanded or enhanced to assist in successful planning and implementation; and to ensure that all activities support FCBOH’s commitment to health equity.
FCBOH reviewed the outcomes of the 2021 Revenue Generation and Process Optimization Assessment Final Report and the Community Health Assessment (CHA) Technical Report to assess the need and inform the design for the proposed program. Both assessments were conducted by independent consultants and included significant input from the health departments of neighboring metro counties, health systems, safety-net providers, academic institutions, community-based organizations, residents, and community leaders.
Over the five-year funding period FCBOH anticipates implementing activities and strategies related to the Workforce Strategy that will include the recruitment, hiring, and retention of public health staff; supporting and sustaining the public health workforce; training new and existing public health staff; and strengthening workforce planning, systems, processes, and policies. FCBOH has requested funds to support 19 additional full-time staff.
FCBOH anticipates the following outcomes as a result of program implementation over the five-year funding period. 1) Increase in the hiring of a diverse public health staff; 2) Increase in the retention of existing public health staff; 3) Improved workforce systems and processes; 4) Increase in the size and capabilities of the public health workforce; and 5) Increase in job satisfaction.