Historically, the governmental public health system has been underfunded and understaffed, requiring the workforce to do what they can within the existing infrastructure. To provide the Foundational Public Health Services (FPHS) to all communities public health systems need support to retain, recruit, and develop the workforce needed. Beginning in 2020, PHAB and the de Beaumont Foundation collaborated on the Staffing Up initiative to develop an estimate of staffing needed to perform the FPHS.

Research found that an additional 80,000 FTEs are needed in the United States to provide Foundational Capabilities.

In response, the Public Health Workforce Calculator was developed provide local health departments with a data-driven tool for workforce planning and to advocate for additional resources.

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Public Health Workforce Calculator

The Public Health Workforce Calculator is a tool to help local health departments with workforce planning by utilizing information provided about the local health department to estimate the number of full-time equivalents (FTEs) needed to ensure the provision of the Foundational Public Health Services (FPHS). The Calculator is intended for use in decentralized public health systems with a jurisdiction size of 500,000 or less.