Houck Olivia, Martin Skky, Karnik Harshada, Leider Jonathon P, Massuda Barnett Gina, Hasbrouck LaMar
Center for Public Health Systems, Division of Health Policy and Management, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States.
Cook County Department of Public Health, Forest Park, IL, United States.
Front Public Health. 2025 Jul 17;13:1516027. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1516027. eCollection 2025.
Staffing shortages in US local health departments (LHDs) have been well documented. While the increasing number of public health graduates offers an abundant talent pool, LHDs are facing increasing competition from other employers.
We conducted a comprehensive review to identify factors impeding recruitment and retention at LHDs and strategies that could be used to address them.
Our findings highlight various barriers and opportunities. The main barriers were non-competitive salaries, perceived lack of employee autonomy, cumbersome HR protocols, and an environment that is not satisfying to a diverse workforce. Strategies to enhance recruitment include marketing the rewarding aspects of public health employment, establishing partnerships with academic institutions, and developing internship programs. Strategies to improve retention include improving the organizational work environment, supporting professional growth, mentoring programs, and succession planning.
Our study highlights the staffing barriers facing LHDs and offers practical solutions they can implement to support successful recruitment and retention. More work is needed to identify specific ways to improve workplace culture, quantify the disparity between pay offered by health departments and their competitors, and better understand barriers and opportunities related to supporting a diverse workforce.
美国地方卫生部门（LHDs）的人员短缺问题已有详尽记录。虽然公共卫生专业毕业生数量不断增加，提供了丰富的人才库，但地方卫生部门正面临来自其他雇主日益激烈的竞争。
我们进行了全面审查，以确定阻碍地方卫生部门招聘和留用人员的因素以及可用于解决这些问题的策略。
我们的研究结果突出了各种障碍和机遇。主要障碍包括薪资缺乏竞争力、员工自主权不足、人力资源流程繁琐以及工作环境无法满足多样化员工队伍的需求。加强招聘的策略包括宣传公共卫生工作的回报、与学术机构建立伙伴关系以及制定实习计划。提高留用率的策略包括改善组织工作环境、支持职业发展、指导计划和继任规划。
我们的研究突出了地方卫生部门面临的人员配备障碍，并提供了他们可以实施的切实可行的解决方案，以支持成功的招聘和留用。需要开展更多工作，以确定改善工作场所文化的具体方法、量化卫生部门与其竞争对手提供的薪酬差距，以及更好地理解与支持多样化员工队伍相关的障碍和机遇。
