Letter urges HHS to address staffing and hiring barriers threatening the nation's ability to prevent injuries and violence across communities
ATLANTA, GA / ACCESS Newswire / September 28, 2026 / Safe States Alliance applauds Representatives Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) for their bipartisan leadership in urging U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., to address the critical staffing and hiring challenges at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (Injury Center).
Safe States partnered with Reps. Dingell and Fitzpatrick to raise serious concerns about the impact of recent workforce reductions and new hiring processes. Together, these challenges have left the Injury Center with critical vacancies, a significant loss of institutional knowledge, and a lack of stable leadership. The new hiring processes are tedious and confusing, piling more work onto an already strained workforce and severely limiting the Injury Center's ability to fulfill its mission and support injury and violence prevention efforts nationwide.
The Injury Center funds programs in every state addressing urgent public health challenges, including suicide, overdose, intimate partner violence, falls, and drowning. Yet more than 200 Injury Center staff members have been eliminated through recent reductions in force, leaving the Center with fewer than 400 full-time equivalent employees, down from more than 700 in January 2025. That's more than 45 percent of its workforce gone at a time when communities continue to face significant and evolving health challenges.
"The Injury Center's work saves lives, protects communities, and supports prevention efforts in every state. We can't afford to permanently lose the expertise behind that work, especially now, when we're seeing real progress on overdose prevention," said Sharon Gilmartin, Executive Director of Safe States Alliance. "We're grateful to Reps. Dingell and Fitzpatrick for recognizing the urgency of this moment and for working with us to elevate concerns from the injury and violence prevention field. We urge HHS and CDC leadership to act quickly to remove barriers to hiring and restore the capacity the nation needs to keep people safe."
The congressional letter calls for streamlining current hiring processes, clarifying roles and timelines across HHS and CDC, implementing more flexible and merit-based applicant screening, providing timely notification to qualified employees affected by reductions in force, and improving communication with hiring officials.
Safe States joins Reps. Dingell and Fitzpatrick in urging prompt action. Strengthening the Injury Center's workforce is essential to protecting federal investments, supporting state and local prevention efforts, and ensuring the nation can respond effectively to preventable injuries and violence.
About Safe States Alliance: Formed in 1993, Safe States Alliance is one of the nation's leading public health associations representing injury and violence prevention professionals in all 50 states and D.C.
Contact: Sharon Gilmartin, Executive Director. sharon.gilmartin@safestates.org or 678.636.9916
SOURCE: Safe States Alliance
Related Documents:
- 9.17_cdc_injury_center_letter_dingellfitzpatrick
View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire:
https://www.accessnewswire.com/newsroom/en/business-and-professional-services/safe-states-applauds-bipartisan-call-for-secretary-robert-f.-ken-1227431
