New top leaders at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told staff they’re focused on hiring more people, including for senior roles, to alleviate pressure on the agency, according to a recording of a meeting reviewed by Bloomberg News.

Sean Slovenski, the CDC’s new principal deputy director and chief operating officer, said Monday he will work to improve the agency’s operating strategy over the next four to six months. That includes tackling low morale and how many temporary leaders are occupying top positions.

“I’ve never seen more acting roles in my life,” he said.

At least 11 centers and offices at the CDC are filled with an acting director, according to its website. The U.S. public health agency has been without a permanent director for nearly a year. Over the last 18 months, about a quarter of its staff left or were cut by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.

That’s stretched the CDC thin as it addresses several public health responses, including an ongoing Ebola outbreak in Africa, New World screwworm in the U.S., rising measles infections and the FIFA World Cup games. Hundreds of staff were moved onto the Ebola effort in Atlanta and in Africa in recent weeks. The Department of Health and Human Services ended its response to the hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship on June 24, after quarantine ended for 18 passengers.

Slovenski assured CDC workers there won’t be another reduction in force. Interim leader Jay Bhattacharya — who also helms the National Institutes of Health — also vowed to bring in more staff to alleviate employees working multiple jobs at once.

“I’m very familiar with the idea of taking on more than one job at the same time and I know many of you are as well,” he said. “I’m grateful for all of you.”

Representatives for HHS and the CDC didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

The new CDC director nominee, Erica Schwartz, likely will sit for a confirmation hearing in the Senate in the coming months. Susan Monarez, the previous leader, was fired after clashing with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over vaccine policy. Since then, the agency has had two acting directors, including Bhattacharya.

Slovenski and Deputy Director and Chief Medical Officer Jennifer Shuford, who also spoke to staff Monday, were tapped for Schwartz’s team earlier this year to help stabilize leadership at the agency.

Vaccine trust

If confirmed, Schwartz will inherit an agency in chaos following the deep staff cuts and Kennedy’s overhaul of U.S. vaccine policy. During Monday’s all-hands meeting, one participant received at least 15 seconds of applause for asking what CDC leaders will do to improve Americans’ trust in vaccines.

“The collapse in the confidence that Americans have in some of the most essential vaccines is one of the biggest health challenges we face today,” Bhattacharya said. “I want us as a CDC to help fix that.”

Kennedy led an overhaul of a key CDC immunization advisory panel, which assesses the shots Americans should get and helps determine insurance coverage. New members more critical of vaccines were added, and the secretary has taken individual steps to slim down the number of shots recommended for children. Some of Kennedy’s moves have been challenged in court, leaving the future of the committee in limbo.

Last August, the CDC was the target of a shooting from a gunman who was motivated by frustrations with the COVID vaccine. He killed local police officer David Rose and shot nearly 200 rounds into the agency’s headquarters.

On the one-year anniversary, the CDC will rename the road leading into the Atlanta headquarters after the officer, Bhattacharya said. Some of the windows that were damaged in the shooting still haven’t been fixed.

“I‘m hoping that we can take that opportunity of this somber remembrance of the sacrifice of this heroic officer, but to turn it into something, to a recommitment of the CDC to its public health mission,” he said.

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