Director Gerberding Unveils Details of CDC Reorganization Plan
CDC Director Julie Gerberding on Thursday unveiled details of a reorganization plan scheduled to take effect on Oct. 1, when the agency will consolidate 12 major subdivisions into four "coordinating centers," the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports (McKenna, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 5/14). The plan follows an effort launched by Gerberding last June to examine the structure and purpose of CDC. As part of the 11-month effort, CDC officials conducted more than 500 interviews with public health partners, such as state and local health departments that receive funds from the agency (California Healthline, 4/20). Under the plan, CDC will not eliminate jobs and will not require additional funds for the next fiscal year. The plan will decrease the number of individuals who report directly to Gerberding from 28 to 13. In addition, the plan will establish "a slate of quasi-independent offices to handle strategy, work-force training and research done elsewhere with CDC funds," the Journal-Constitution reports. The plans also mandates that CDC address prevention of health problems "as aggressively as it responds to disease outbreaks," focus more on the distribution of health information and emphasize "customer service" to U.S. residents, schools and businesses, as well as the health care system, according to the Journal-Constitution (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 5/14).
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