CDC To Hire Ombudsman To Address Low Morale Among Employees

CDC Director Julie Gerberding on Monday in an e-mail to all employees announced that the agency will hire a permanent ombudsman to address low morale among employees, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Gerberding made the announcement based on recommendations from two interim ombudsmen that CDC hired to address increased dissent and low morale among employees, as well as concerns from five former agency directors and Sen. Chuck Grassley that those problems might affect public health (Young [1], Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 1/22). CDC hired the interim ombudsmen — former agency managers Joseph McDade and Gerald Naehr of Carter Consulting of Tucker — on a one-year, $250,000 contract that began on Oct. 1, 2006. According to Stephen Thacker, director of the Office of Workforce and Career Development at CDC, McDade and Naehr have examined ombudsmen programs at other federal agencies, such as NIH and FDA, and have met with individual employees who have problems with the agency (Young [2], Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 1/22). E-Mail Details
In her e-mail, Gerberding wrote that CDC will establish an ombudsmen program and that the agency will retain the interim ombudsmen to help develop the program until a permanent ombudsman is hired. She added that the permanent ombudsman will continue to meet with employees to develop the program and will meet with her at least quarterly to discuss potential problems with CDC. In addition, the permanent ombudsman will issue quarterly independent reports directly to CDC, Gerberding wrote. She added, “Most importantly, the ombudsman will continue to place the highest priority on sustaining trust — through both their commitment to protecting the confidentiality of their conversations and the transparency of their reporting and actions” (Young [1], Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 1/22). According to Gerberding, the increased dissent and low morale among employees have resulted in part because of a CDC reorganization that began in 2003 and because of a shift in resources from public health issues to bioterrorism and pandemic preparedness. Thacker said, “My sense is, as people get back to the work they feel is most important for public health, the morale thing will be less of an issue” (Young [2], Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 1/22).

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