Biosurveillance system ripped

COX NEWS SERVICE - The nation's biological surveillance system is "falling short" of its goals some three years after President Bush ordered the Department of Homeland Security to consolidate biological threats uncovered by agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention into a central early-warning system, a new report found.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) failed to provide "consistent leadership and staff support to ensure successful execution" of the program, known as the National Biosurveillance Integration System, according to the report by Inspector General Richard L. Skinner.

Mr. Skinner found that the system has "struggled since its inception" to hire enough staff to effectively manage the program.

The 34-page report, obtained by Cox Newspapers in advance of its release next week, is already creating a stir on Capitol Hill.

Rep. John D. Dingell, Michigan Democrat and chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, informed Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff in a letter that the panel is investigating the management of the program "to assess the adequacy of DHS's current biosurveillance efforts." The letter was co-authored by Rep. Bart Stupak, Michigan Democrat, chairman of the committee's investigations panel.

William R. Knocke, press secretary for the Homeland Security Department, said the department was already addressing several of the items raised by the inspector general at the time of his investigation.

For example, it is in the process of hiring nine full-time employees for the biosurveillance program and reached agreements with six federal agencies to bring aboard more analysts and technical-support personnel, who will start arriving this fall, Mr. Knocke said.

"Most importantly, the program now has critical leadership and support from senior officials," he said.

"We are also making sure that this program has direction with clearly defined goals and expectations for its 24/7 watch capability," Mr. Knocke...

Here are some articles, though none is the specific one I was looking for....I'll find it, eventually.

Key scientists leave Centers for Disease Control
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution | 09/10/06

An exodus of key leaders and scientists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has raised "great concern" among five of the six former directors who led the agency over the past 40 years.
Their concerns, expressed in a rare joint letter to current CDC Director Julie Gerberding, come amid growing staff complaints about whether her strategic shifts in the agency's focus are putting public health at risk, according to interviews with current and former CDC officials and documents obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.Critics say the agency is changing to a top-down management style that stifles science and that new layers of bureaucracy are being created that make agency operations more cumbersome.

Inner Circle Taking More of C.D.C. Bonuses
NY Times | September 17, 2006

Top officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention received premium bonuses in recent years at the expense of scientists and others who perform much of the agency's scientific work, agency records show.
...The increase in bonuses to these officials was part of a decision by the Bush administration...
...Soon after arriving at the centers, Dr. Gerberding began a comprehensive reorganization of the agency. In its wake, many of the agency's senior scientists and leaders either left or have announced that they are planning to leave.
The Washington Post and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution have reported on the turmoil at the centers in articles quoting disgruntled former senior scientists who said the changes had undermined the agency.
Five of the six former directors who led the agency in the past 40 years recently wrote a letter to Dr. Gerberding expressing concerns over the exodus of crucial administrative and scientific leaders and scientists, The Journal-Constitution reported.

Finance Office of Disease Control Agency Is Slipshod, Federal Report Says
NY Times | September 30, 2006

The Deloitte report found that scientific managers in the agency were “hiring staff to fulfill financial management responsibilities due to dissatisfaction with” the finance office staff. It found that payment backlogs rose 47 percent from 2004 to 2005.
“Managers are too removed from daily work and attend too many meetings; make decisions that should be made at lower levels, so people are constantly waiting on answers; people are unsure of which decisions they are allowed to make,” it said.
Deloitte graded the finance office on five criteria. On “strategy” and “people,” it gave the office grades of 1 out of a possible 5. On “process” and “technology,” the office got 2’s. Only on “infrastructure” did the office merit a 4.
Meanwhile, top management and finance officials at the disease centers have been rewarded with huge performance bonuses.

Internal Dissension Grows as CDC Faces Big Threats to Public Health
Washington Post | March 6, 2005

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is being roiled by internal dissension as the nation's top public health agency is facing such unprecedented threats as bioterrorism, a potential flu pandemic and the obesity epidemic, say current and former officials and several outside experts.
The Atlanta-based agency has been thrown into turmoil by a combination of factors, including the upheaval of a drawn-out restructuring, the departure of dozens of its most respected scientists, concerns about political interference and a pending budget cut of nearly $500 million, they say.

What Ails The CDC
TIME | November 19, 2006

Perhaps the most immediate problem is the number of senior-level people who are leaving. Part of that is an unavoidable function of aging--40% of the CDC's 9,000 employees will be eligible to retire in 2008. But there's also speculation that older scientists are being pushed to leave early. Either way, "you don't replace the experts at CDC easily," says Robert Keegan, deputy director of the agency's Global Immunization Division. "Management has said they've enacted better emergency standards, but until there's an emergency, you don't know."
State and local public-health officials are keeping a close eye on all the drama. "The most difficult organization in the world to change is a successful organization [like the CDC]," says Paul Halverson of the Arkansas department of health and human services. "If you're a company that is losing money every month, then it's easy to see the need to make a change." Of course, in this case, it's not just money but lives that are at stake.

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