The Wisconsin Department of Health Services has been awarded a $45 million grant to help strengthen its public health workforce through retention, recruitment and training.
The funding is part of $3.2 billion the CDC is awarding to state, local and territorial jurisdictions across the U.S. to support the public health workforce and infrastructure.
Wisconsin will use the five-year investment to evaluate the structure of its public health system, including staffing levels, capacity and workforce well-being, according to a Dec. 5 news release. The funding will support strategies to recruit, prepare and retain a diverse healthcare workforce, such as supporting recruitment pipelines, improving diversity and wellbeing, and providing training to the workforce.
About 40 percent of the workforce funding will be allocated to local and tribal health departments.
"This investment will shape our work to build and support a stronger, resilient public health system," Paula Tran, state health officer, said. "As we look to the future of public health needs in Wisconsin, we must invest in supporting and retaining our current workforce while recruiting and preparing the future workforce to ensure that all residents in Wisconsin have all the resources and opportunities they need to thrive."