Thank you Susan for your comment. Excellent idea. I know that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) often brings former employees back as contractors. This brings in needed skills and expertise, and at the same time the retired CDC employees no longer have administrative or supervisory responsibilities. Seems to work well for CDC.

We have a large number of experienced public health professionals who retired before or during the pandemic. Many of these individuals would not be willing to work full-time in public health again, but they are a significant resource of knowledge and experience. Consideration should be given to hiring them as part-time mentors and coaches as new public health professionals are hired. This could potentially increase the retention of new staff. It is critical that public health salaries reflect the depth of expertise and responsibility the job entails. I am a nurse and nursing educator--nurses do not enter the public health field because the pay scale is not in line with other nursing positions.