What is the estimated need for additional public health workers nationally?

What is the estimated need for additional public health workers nationally?

• A. 8,000 additional full-time equivalents (FTEs).
• B. 80,000 additional full-time equivalents (FTEs) needed to deliver foundational services.
• C. 180,000 FTEs.
• D. 800 FTEs.

Answer: (B)

This item is about understanding how many public health workers are needed across the country to reliably perform the essential, foundational public health activities. The figure of 80,000 additional full-time equivalents represents the widely cited estimate of the nationwide staffing gap required to deliver core public health services—things like surveillance, outbreak investigation, health protection, disease prevention, and the data and systems that support these functions. Why this number fits best: it reflects the scale of under-resourcing observed across many local and state health departments, accounting for current staff levels and the workload of delivering baseline public health capabilities. The other options don’t align with this commonly used benchmark: 8,000 is far too small to cover nationwide foundational work, 180,000 implies a much larger overhaul beyond foundational services, and 800 is far too small to support the necessary breadth of core functions.

This item is about understanding how many public health workers are needed across the country to reliably perform the essential, foundational public health activities. The figure of 80,000 additional full-time equivalents represents the widely cited estimate of the nationwide staffing gap required to deliver core public health services—things like surveillance, outbreak investigation, health protection, disease prevention, and the data and systems that support these functions.

Why this number fits best: it reflects the scale of under-resourcing observed across many local and state health departments, accounting for current staff levels and the workload of delivering baseline public health capabilities. The other options don’t align with this commonly used benchmark: 8,000 is far too small to cover nationwide foundational work, 180,000 implies a much larger overhaul beyond foundational services, and 800 is far too small to support the necessary breadth of core functions.