Congress to scrap CDC ombudsman

[Guest guest]

My opinion, it would have been cheaper to replace Gerberding to

boost morale.....

Congress to scrap CDC ombudsman

Atlanta Journal Constitution - GA*

By ALISON YOUNG

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Published on: 12/07/07

http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/12/06/cdcmorale_120

7.html

The new ombudsman's office at the Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention was once considered critical to fixing the Atlanta-based

agency's poor employee morale and distrust of senior leadership.

The office was the cornerstone effort by CDC Director

Gerberding to address concerns — by members of Congress and five

former agency directors — that the turmoil inside the CDC was

putting public health at risk.

CDC Director Gerberding created the ombudsman's office to

boost morale.

Now the ombudsman's office, created in October 2006, is slated for

elimination. It hadn't even yet hired permanent staff.

Some members of Congress consider it a waste of money and have put

language in a pending 2008 federal budget bill prohibiting any

future funds from going to it.

" I think the proposed congressional action is very unfortunate, "

said Dr. Sencer, one of five former CDC directors who have

expressed concern about the agency's morale problems. Hiring an

ombudsman to help independently address staff concerns was a key

recommendation of the former directors.

U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) said he inserted language to

eliminate the ombudsman's office because it's a waste of taxpayer

money.

" My colleagues in Congress agreed with me that CDC doesn't need a

morale-boosting CDC ombudsman that costs over $1,000 a day and over

$2,500 per employee visit, " Coburn said. " This money can be better

spent. "

Dr. Thacker, director of the CDC's office of work force and

career development, said Thursday he thinks the ombudsman program

has been worthwhile. " I think those who have used it will be

disappointed, " he said, noting that the agency will find other ways

to get staff input and resolve issues if the office is eliminated.

The agency already has conducted focus groups to help find solutions

to problems, he said.

The CDC has 9,000 employees and 5,000 contractors, most of them in

metro Atlanta. Various federal work force surveys have shown

significant drops in job satisfaction at the CDC since June 2003,

after Gerberding became director and launched a massive

reorganization of the agency.

The CDC ombudsman's office has been controversial from the start.

That's because of the agency's decision to initially hire two

contractors from Consulting to serve as temporary ombudsmen

on a one-year, $259,000 contract.

The contracting firm drew immediate distrust from some CDC staff who

questioned the contractors' independence because the Tucker firm is

owned by ph , who retired in 2004 after being a top

management official in the CDC director's office.

U.S. Sen. Grassley (R-Iowa), the ranking Republican on the

Senate Finance Committee who has investigated morale problems at the

CDC, said Thursday he's not surprised the " hastily established "

office is being eliminated.

" CDC employees said that they did not trust the ombudsmen whom they

believe are not truly dedicated to identifying and solving personnel

issues at CDC, " said Grassley.

That lack of trust, Grassley and others have said, has resulted in

few employees seeking help from the office.

The office received 169 visits or inquires from October 2006 through

June, the most recent data available.

Levi, executive director of the Trust for America's Health,

a Washington-based public health watchdog group, said having an

ombudsman office is particularly important in an agency like the CDC

that has gone through so much change.

Last January Gerberding announced her intent to hire a full-time

employee to replace the contractors.

But none was hired and in September CDC extended the

Consulting contract through the end of December for an additional

$110,551.

The amount outraged Coburn because, by his calculations, it came to

a cost of $1,053 a day for one acting ombudsman: Gerald Naehr.

Thacker said the CDC was in the process of hiring an employee when

amendments potentially cutting the office were added to the budget.