The pilot program aims to “lift up” the entire public health system

Typically, when an infectious disease is reported, the local public health agency will initiate an investigation, contact tracing, and create strategies to prevent future spread. SGCHD has a team of professionals who can fully dedicate their jobs to it, but smaller departments may not be so lucky.

“A lot of times people who fight communicable diseases have to wear a lot of other hats. It could be a nurse who also provides WIC services who also provides community health education who also provides immunizations,” Mooney said. “They’re trying to juggle a lot of different things — and they’re doing a good job of that — but when there’s an uptick in disease in a community, it makes it very difficult to respond when you have one person who has multiple responsibilities.”

The pilot team hopes to prevent local departments from having to make the decision whether to deal with an infectious disease or call back critical health services. Although it may not be fully staffed at first, the team aims to have three nurses, three infectious disease specialists, a data analyst, a communications specialist and a coordinator. The pilot program will help them determine if that size group is too big or too small.