Tennessee

Julie Shaffner, a PHEP-funded Career Epidemiology Field Officer, oversaw teams conducting case investigations and contact tracing for the Tennessee Department of Health’s COVID-19 preparedness and response efforts. Shaffner established a surge process to ease the burden on public health staff in the field and provided updates on COVID-19 guidance and protocols during regular calls with more than 150 public health staff. Shaffner also organized statewide call centers to answer general and clinical questions from the public and healthcare providers about COVID-19. The call centers have respond to more than 100,000 calls.

Jennifer Johnson, a PHEP-funded preparedness field assignee in Tennessee, helped develop in 2020 alternate care sites for when hospitals in the most affected areas of Tennessee became overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients. Johnson worked with the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency to conduct exercises that tested the sites’ capabilities. She also led exercise debriefings to assess lessons learned and improvements needed.

In Tennessee, PHEP supports a CDC field scientist who works with local staff to improve surveillance, strengthen outbreak response, and conduct epidemiologic investigations. In 2017, Tennessee recorded 1,268 deaths related to opioid overdoses. The CDC scientist, alongside local staff, collected and analyzed data from multiple sources to understand the nature of the epidemic, and developed a report. Known as the Opioid Outbreak Strategic Map, the report outlines actions to increase public education, identify problematic prescribing patterns, and strengthen collaboration with law enforcement. This report helped coordinate the efforts of all invested in stopping opioid deaths and created a path for moving forward.