Board reviews workforce policy and presses for restored educator position amid staffing concerns

The Marquette County Board of Health reviewed a revised workforce development policy and debated how to address staffing needs after modest reductions since the pandemic.

Jamie, the health officer, presented the policy ahead of the department's upcoming DHS 140 audit and described strategic objectives including training, onboarding and retention tracking. She said the department's internal metrics show an average staff tenure of "almost seven years" and an annual retention rate around 92 percent, which she contrasted with national public-health workforce trends.

Board members raised concerns about capacity. Gary (a former county administrative coordinator) and other supervisors noted the department has fewer full-time equivalents than in some prior years and suggested exploring interdepartmental supports, targeted grant funding or a pool of part-time/zero-benefit hires to fill programmatic needs without long-term levy commitments. One supervisor pointed out the health educator position remains on the books but is currently zero-funded; members said restoring that role would be a priority if sustained funding becomes available.

Jamie warned that many core public-health roles are complex to train and that short-term grant hires create churn: "It takes about a year to be trained in public health and that's working full-time," she told the board, adding that much program work requires sustained institutional knowledge.

The board asked staff to continue tracking workforce metrics, include training logs and tenure/turnover data in future reports, and to return with options for staffing models that could stretch limited budgets while maintaining required services.