Population Health Division outlines reorganization, vacancies and EPIC clinic go-lives

Dr. Susan Philip, director of the Population Health Division (DPH), presented an organizational overview and priorities to the Health Commission on April 19. She named directors across branches (including supply chain, EMS medical director, research, environmental health, anti-racism and equity, and public-health laboratory leadership) and positioned population health as responsible for the department's 10 essential public-health functions.

Philip said the division faces a 27% overall vacancy rate and is working with HR and DPH leadership to fill critical roles such as a permanent communicable-disease physician director and deputy directors. "Overall there's a 27% vacancy rate in the Division, which of course makes it very challenging to do the work," she said.

She highlighted accomplishments including the incorporation of three population-health clinics onto EPIC (Adult Immunization and Travel Clinics, City Clinic, and TB Clinic), the contribution of division teams to COVID response and community partnerships, and the division's role leading public-health reaccreditation work.

Philip described priorities for strengthening public-health infrastructure, improving data and epidemiology capacity, centering equity across programs, and planning for the transition and reintegration of COVID Task Force functions into Population Health over the coming 6 to 18 months. She said some task-force functions (such as disease response units and data visualization) are already being transitioned back into divisional structures and that the division would focus on workforce development, data modernization and collaboration with community partners.

Commissioners thanked Philip for the presentation and asked for future updates on how Population Health's activities will be presented to the public; no formal action was taken.