CDC announces sweeping agency review

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Monday announced in an internal email a sweeping review of the agency.

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky told employees that Jim Macrae, associate administrator for primary health care at the Health Resources and Services Administration, would be conducting a one-month review of the organization that has been in the public spotlight amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Walensky said that on Monday, Macrae will begin evaluating current COVID-19 efforts and “provide me with insight on how the delivery of our science and program can be further strengthened during this critical time of transition.” 

CDC Chief Operating Officer Robin Bailey, acting Principal Deputy Director Deb Houry and chief of staff Sherri Berger will also be gathering information about the agency’s structure to offer advice for “strategic change.”

“At the conclusion of this collective effort, we will develop new systems and processes to deliver our science and program to the American people, along with a plan for how CDC should be structured to facilitate the public health work we do,” Walensky wrote. 

The review comes more than two years after the coronavirus pandemic began. The CDC has faced intense scrutiny during the global pandemic.

The federal government and private companies have relied on messaging from the CDC on safety measures during the pandemic such as when to list social distancing or mask requirements. The agency has faced criticism for not always having clear guidelines.

The agency is currently bracing for another wave of COVID-19 cases, not long after all U.S. states have dropped their indoor mask mandates. 

“So we aren’t seeing this massive takeoff of omicron, of BA.2, but we do anticipate that we will see more and more of it and it may become the predominant variant in the weeks ahead,” Walensky said last week.