Voices inside the CDC

[Guest guest]

Voices inside the CDC

By ALISON YOUNG

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

http://www.ajc.com/search/content/metro/stories/2006/09/09/0910MESHcd

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Published on: 09/10/06

Leaving next year

" Leaders we all respect — and have grown up in the agency with —

have all left in droves. We see additional layers of bureaucracy

added to the agency whose purpose is not readily apparent and eats

up a certain portion of the budget, " said Dr. Brad Woodruff, an

epidemiologist in CDC's maternal and child nutrition branch, who

will be eligible to retire next spring. " Personally, I'm planning to

leave at 20 years and zero days, and I had not really planned to do

that five years ago. "

A good place to work

" A large proportion of us are more focused on trying to get our work

done, " said Dr. Rick Goodman, a former editor-in-chief of CDC's

Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report who now works in the agency's

public health law program. " We've got a lot to do. We get

compensated well. We have good job security, health care benefits,

and it's a pretty decent place to work. "

Unprecedented departures

" There have been center directors who have retired. But nothing

where almost all of them retire in such a short period of time, "

said Dr. Cordero, who left his position as director of CDC's

National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities to

become dean of public health at the University of Puerto Rico.

Many committed scientists

" I wouldn't pretend to say CDC has the depth of experience that it's

had, but it's got a lot of people who are just completely committed.

And committed people are going to do their homework, " said Dr. Dixie

Snider, who retired this summer as CDC's longtime chief science

officer. The agency, he said, " has the capacity to continue to do an

excellent job as long as it's given an adequate level of support. "

Process uncomfortable

" Change is painful, and a lot of people want it to go fast because

it gets through it faster, and it feels uncomfortable to be in the

middle of a difficult change process. And I'm sure that is a major

factor contributing to some of the issues in morale that we do have

at CDC, " said CDC Director Gerberding.

Changes are draining

" People come here because it makes a difference what they do, " said

Dr. Thacker, CDC's director of workforce and career

development. Anytime they feel something is impeding their ability

to do public health work — the reorganization, changes in the

Commissioned Corps, the perception of politics — they're going to

get " testy, " he said. " In addition to the changes, you have fatigue.

Engagement fatigue. It's been a long process. "