To: County of Sonoma Board of Supervisors
Department or Agency Name(s): Department of Health Services
Staff Name and Phone Number: Nolan Sullivan, 707-565-7901, Amelyn Olsen, 707-565-2696
Vote Requirement: 4/5th
Supervisorial District(s): Countywide
Title:
Title
Department of Health Services Public Health Laboratory Assistant Lab Director Staffing Allocation
End
Recommended Action:
Recommended action
Adopt a personnel Resolution amending the Department of Health Services Department Allocation List to add 1.0 Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) Assistant Public Health Laboratory Director - Time-Limited allocation as detailed in the attached resolution, effective April 15, 2025. The new position will be funded with awarded LabAspire grant funds.
(4/5th Vote Required)
end
Executive Summary:
The Department of Health Services (DHS or the Department) is requesting approval to add 1.0 FTE Assistant Public Health Laboratory Director - Time-Limited allocation as detailed in the attached personnel resolution, effective April 15, 2025, to support services at the Sonoma County Public Health Laboratory (SCPHL). The new position will be funded with awarded LabAspire grant funds.
Discussion:
Public Health Laboratory - 1.0 FTE Time-Limited Assistant Public Health Laboratory Director -
The Department is seeking approval to add 1.0 FTE Assistant Public Health Laboratory Director Time-Limited at the SCPHL. The Assistant Public Health Laboratory Director role is a LabAspire grant fellow and is funded through the LabAspire program <https://www.caphld.org/labaspire>, a state initiative designed to train future public health Laboratory directors, fully supported by AB107 <https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB107> California Future of Public Health HERO funds.
The Department of Health Services Public Health Laboratory (“SCPHL”) provides testing services to Sonoma, Mendocino, Lake, and Humboldt counties, training and reference testing to clinical laboratories, and laboratory support for diagnosis and control of communicable diseases to medical providers. The SCPHL currently has 1.0 FTE Assistant Public Health Director Time-Limited allocation funded by the LabAspire program intended to address Public Health Laboratory personnel shortages by increasing workforce training programs. Each funding award received through the program can only be used for expenses associated with an identified fellow.
The Department has since applied for an additional grant to support a second Assistant Public Health Laboratory Director. On January 6, 2025, the Department was notified by the California Department of Public Health of a LabAspire Fellowship Award in the amount of $747,018 for fiscal years FY 2025-2027. The Department has confirmed that this new funding cannot be used to fund expenses associated with the existing fellow. The Department is requesting to add 1.0 FTE Assistant Public Health Director - Time-Limited allocation funded with the new award through June 30, 2027.
DHS, in collaboration with the Sheriff Coroner’s Office, is in the process of constructing a new facility to house both the DHS Public Health Laboratory and the Coroner’s Office operations. The project has an aggressive timeline, as the Lab’s current facilities must be vacated by the end of 2026 due to the expiration of the Chanate Property lease term. The addition of a second Assistant Public Health Laboratory Director will provide essential supervisory and management support during the transition to the new facility in 2026.
The laboratory move will be a complicated endeavor that will increase the regulatory compliance workload. Every piece of equipment must be moved, installed, validated, calibrated and documented. During the move, laboratory testing may stop temporarily, during which time the Laboratory may utilize agreements with neighboring Public Health Laboratories, implement a dedicated shipping and receiving section, order tests electronically, retrieve results from the contracted laboratory, and enter the results into the Sonoma County laboratory information system. As part of the transition, additional on-site assessments from both the Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program and National Shellfish Sanitation Program will be required, in addition to routinely scheduled on-site assessments.
The logistical needs of the move include organizing, packing, and moving the contents of all of our refrigerators and freezers, while maintaining the cold chain (the maximum temperatures items can attain while enroute); working with a vendor to safely transport chemicals; and other miscellaneous Laboratory supplies, all while potentially maintaining some testing services or routing specimens for testing at our contracted laboratory.
The current Assistant Public Health Laboratory Director will oversee quality improvement efforts, efforts to maintain and improve technical excellence, day-to-day operational needs, and regulatory compliance. The proposed Assistant Public Health Laboratory Director will be trained on routine assays to provide coverage during the transition or in the event of a microbiologist being out; this work is not performed by the current Assistant Public Health Laboratory Director. The proposed Assistant Public Health Laboratory Director will be responsible for implementing the PulseNet program, a technical genetic sequencing project that will occur during the two years of the requested time-limited position (2025-2027).
Strategic Plan:
This item directly supports the County’s Five-year Strategic Plan and is aligned with the following pillar, goal, and objective.
Pillar: Healthy and Safe Communities
Goal: Goal 1: Expand integrated system of care to address gaps in services to the County’s most vulnerable.
Objective: Objective 2: Identify gaps in the Safety Net system of services and identify areas where departments can address those gaps directly, and seek guidance from the Board when additional resources and/or policy direction is needed.
Racial Equity:
Was this item identified as an opportunity to apply the Racial Equity Toolkit?
No
Prior Board Actions:
On March 11, 2025 the Board adopted a Resolution amending the Department of Health Services Department Allocation List to extend 1.0 Full-Time Equivalent Assistant Public Health Laboratory Director - Time-Limited through June 30, 2026, in alignment with approved extended state grant.
On June 14, 2024, the Board of Supervisors adopted a Concurrent Resolution adopting the Fiscal Year 2024-2025 Budget and Position Allocation Listing.
On April 18, 2023, the Board of Supervisors adopted a resolution amending the Department of Health Services Department Allocation List to add 4.0 full-time equivalent positions for the Measure O-funded Behavioral Health School Partnership as detailed in the attached resolution, effective April 18, 2023.
Fiscal Summary
|
Expenditures |
FY24-25 Adopted |
FY25-26 Projected |
FY26-27 Projected |
|
Budgeted Expenses |
|
$274,286 |
$284,257 |
|
Additional Appropriation Requested |
$82,425 |
|
|
|
Total Expenditures |
$82,425 |
$274,286 |
$284,257 |
|
Funding Sources |
|
|
|
|
General Fund/WA GF |
|
|
|
|
State/Federal |
$82,425 |
$274,286 |
$284,257 |
|
Fees/Other |
|
|
|
|
Use of Fund Balance |
|
|
|
|
General Fund Contingencies |
|
|
|
|
Total Sources |
$82,425 |
$274,286 |
$284,257 |
Narrative Explanation of Fiscal Impacts:
Additional appropriations of $82,425 are being requested for Fiscal Year 2024-25. The Public Health Assistant Laboratory Director Time-Limited allocation will be funded through the LabAspire program, with AB107 California Future of Public Health HERO funds through the grant period ending, June 30, 2027.
The FY 2025-2026 Budget request will be included in the supplemental budget request process. The last year of the grant and time-limited position will be appropriated in the FY 2026-2027 budget process.
|
Staffing Impacts: |
|
|
|
|
Position Title (Payroll Classification) |
Monthly Salary Range (A-I Step) |
Additions (Number) |
Deletions (Number) |
|
Assistant Public Health Laboratory Director - Time-Limited |
$10,171.23-$12,360.97 |
1.0 |
0.0 |
Narrative Explanation of Staffing Impacts (If Required):
The addition of a second Assistant Public Health Laboratory Director Time-Limited allocation is necessary to support the Public Health Laboratory Director with additional supervisory/management support to the laboratory during the public health laboratory’s transition to the new facility in 2026.
Attachments:
Attachment 1 - Personnel Resolution
Attachment 2 - LabAspire Notice of Award
Related Items “On File” with the Clerk of the Board:
None