Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
CDC Announces Plan To Modernize In Wake Of Pandemic Response
The Washington Post: CDC, Under Fire For Covid Response, Announces Plans To Revamp Agency
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky announced plans Monday to revamp the agency that has come under blistering criticism for its performance leading the U.S. response to the coronavirus pandemic, saying, “it is time to step back and strategically position CDC to support the future of public health.” In an agencywide email sent shortly after 1 p.m., Walensky said she has hired a senior federal health official outside of the Atlanta-based agency to conduct a one-month review to “kick off an evaluation of CDC’s structure, systems, and processes.” (Sun, 4/4)
The New York Times: The C.D.C. Will Undergo A Comprehensive Re-Evaluation, The Agency’s Director Said
The move follows an unrelenting barrage of criticism regarding the agency’s handling of the pandemic over the past few months. The review will be conducted by Jim Macrae, who served as acting administrator of the Health Resources & Services Administration for two years and has held other senior positions at the federal Department of Health and Human Services, of which the C.D.C. is a part. Mr. Macrae will start his assignment on April 11.“The lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic, along with the feedback I have received inside and outside the agency over the past year, indicate that it is time to take a step back and strategically position CDC to support the future of public health,” Dr. Walensky said in an email to agency employees. (Rabin, 4/5)
Bloomberg: CDC Head Plans To Review Agency After Covid Response Criticism
The agency has repeatedly been criticized for Covid guidelines involving health workers, such as earlier this year when it shortened recommended periods for isolation and quarantine. After that, it came under fire for not backing routine testing for exposed people before resuming normal activities. Shortening those periods was intended to get exposed people back to work faster and help reduce staffing shortages. Still, some labor groups and public-health experts said the guidance prioritized the needs of businesses, supply chains and schools over those of vulnerable workers. (Rutherford, 4/4)
And in news from the National Institutes of Health —
Stat: NIH’s Cancer Chief, Ned Sharpless, To Step Down
Ned Sharpless, the director of the National Cancer Institute, is stepping down at the end of April, he told STAT. Sharpless, 55, spent nearly five years leading the roughly $7 billion biomedical research agency, which is the largest of the 27 institutes that compose the National Institutes of Health. “I strongly support what this [administration] is doing to support cancer research, but it’s time for me to step aside,” he wrote in a text message. (Facher, 4/4)
AP: Holy Cross, Fauci's Alma Mater, To Name Building After Him
The College of the Holy Cross is naming its science center after Dr. Anthony Fauci, one of its most famous alumni, the school said Monday. “Dr. Fauci vividly personifies the distinctive characteristics of a Holy Cross education, and we know his life and work are already inspiring the next generation of empathetic servant leaders,” Vincent Rougeau, president of the Jesuit school in Worcester, Massachusetts, said in a statement. (4/4)
