“NACCHO and local health departments are grateful that the Administration took many of our recommendations to ensure a strong, comprehensive plan, and we look forward to working with the Administration to ensure that the promise of today’s announcement is realized in communities across the country.”

— Statement by Lori Tremmel Freeman, NACCHO Chief Executive Officer —

Washington, DC, May 13, 2021 – Today, the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), the voice of the nearly 3,000 local health departments across the country, released the following statement applauding the Biden-Harris Administration for investing over $7 billion from the American Rescue Plan to support the public health workforce during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Today’s announcement is an important acknowledgement of—and investment in—our nation’s public health workforce. This includes $3.4 billion in new hiring for local and state governmental public health, as well as a $3 billion new grant program to aid under-resourced health departments to strengthen their workforce in the long term, something very much needed to strengthen our nation’s public health security as a whole.

“The local public health system nationwide has been starved over the past few decades, with local health departments beginning the pandemic down over 20% of their workforce capacity. The results of this disinvestment are seen in the COVID-19 response, as local health departments are stretched thin and staff are pulled away from other essential areas like food safety, HIV prevention, and opioid overdose prevention, in order to respond to the pandemic. Sustainable, flexible investments to build the workforce—and keep them for the long-term—are absolutely critical now, post pandemic, and long into the future.

“NACCHO and local health departments are grateful that the Administration took many of our recommendations to ensure a strong, comprehensive plan, and we look forward to working with the Administration to ensure that the promise of today’s announcement is realized in communities across the country.”

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About NACCHO
The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) represents the nation’s nearly 3,000 local health departments. These city, county, metropolitan, district, and tribal departments work every day to protect and promote health and well-being for all people in their communities. For more information about NACCHO, please visit www.naccho.org