Biden announces $7.4B to bolster, restock health workforce

The Biden administration said Thursday it will use $7.4 billion from its virus-relief package to recruit the health workforce it needs to stamp out the pandemic and prepare for future threats.

Roughly $4.4 billion will go to state and local health systems that are stretched thin from the ongoing crisis. The idea is to hire people for tasks like contact-tracing, or nurses who can help schools reopen safely.

President Biden will also create a Public Health AmeriCorps to expand surveillance efforts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention so it can identify and contain outbreaks. Stumbles in tracing the coronavirus in early 2020 prompted soul-searching over U.S. capabilities in this area.

The CDC will use the remaining $3 billion to design a new grant program for states to “expand, train, and modernize” the future public health workforce.

“All awardees of this American Rescue Plan funding will be asked to prioritize recruiting individuals from the communities they will serve and from backgrounds underrepresented in critical public health professions,” a White House fact sheet says.

The push reflects government-wide efforts to bolster public health after a crippling pandemic that’s killed nearly 584,000 people and taught the country some harsh lessons about its capabilities.

Republican lawmakers want to continue public-private partnerships that led to groundbreaking cures and vaccines, while Democratic Rep. Brian Higgins of New York proposed a $5,000 tax credit for health workers who put themselves in jeopardy during the crisis.

Besides the risk of infection, the pandemic took an emotional toll on health workers as they were often the only persons in the room with dying patients. Experts are warning of burnout and an exodus from the profession.

The administration said the new funding will help the government recruit future workers while helping “community health workers and others hired for the COVID-19 response an opportunity to continue their careers beyond the pandemic as public health professionals.”