As Public Health trackers try to keep up with the surge in coronavirus cases, more paid staff members and volunteers are needed.
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At this point in the pandemic, the state and tribal organizations are short of nurses, data analysts, lab technicians and contact tracers.
In Fairbanks, the State Virology Lab on the UAF campus has always been a disease testing center, but has been running seven days a week for months. Lab Manager, Dr. Jayme Parker says they have been looking for folks with laboratory experience, who might have medical technology certifications, or bachelor’s degrees all the way to PhD credentials.
We are still looking for public health microbiologists that could help with testing, and laboratory technicians, and those are posted on the Workplace Alaska website just take a look.
The website she mentions is the state’s listing of open jobs. Tim Struna, Alaska’s Chief of Public Health Nursing says that’s where the state has posted jobs in many communities.
We are hiring for public health nurses, contact tracers, data entry and Workplace Alaska has a portal for folks that are interested in some of those non-permanent positions in the state. University of Alaska is also hiring contact tracers through their AHEC program.
That’s the Alaska Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) program at University of Alaska Anchorage, which pays people to train.
Dr. Louisa Castrodale, a Veterinary Epidemiologist, says her Section also needs people to crunch data and create reports, as well as medical folks.
We’ve got links for data entry folks, public health informaticists, and along those lines. But I guess the bottom line, to all of this is, yes, there is definitely hiring happening.
Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Anne Zink says the state is not loosening its standards for hiring, but has learned to look outside the normal paths for recruiting.
And we need smart, committed, people who want to help solve a pandemic with us so, people who have some critical thinking skills, and are willing to commit and work hard. We are a really hard-working, fun team, and we do need help.