We are an effective, experienced and
equity-driven, Covid Response Staffing Solution.
We Are Tracing Health.
Vadim Gaynaliy, Bilingual Contact Tracer Portland, OR
We are committed to advancing health equity and our team reflects the communities we serve.
Lift.
Gladys Jimenez, Bilingual Contact Tracer Yucaipa, CA
We work closely with our partners to implement services that fit their unique needs.
Serve.
Jae Williams, Bilingual Contact Tracer San Ramon, CA
We rapidly deploy culturally centered, primary language COVID-19 response services.
Respond.
Javier Mendez, Bilingual Recruiter Citrus Heights, CA
We are training the diverse, qualified public health workforce of tomorrow.
Grow.
Eva Ruiz, Teams Manager Forest Grove, OR
We are committed to advancing health equity and our team reflects the communities we serve.
Lift.
Tenesie Payne, Bilingual Contact Tracer Portland, OR
We work closely with our partners to implement services that fit their unique needs.
Serve.
Gabriela Carolina Rosales, Bilingual Contact Tracer Oakland, CA
Tracing Health is committed to culturally centered staffing to combat the spread of COVID-19, building a workforce that is more representative of the future of public health.
Tracing Health launched in the spring of 2020 as a COVID-19 response initiative and strategic partnership program of the Public Health Institute and the Oregon Public Health Institute. We support local health jurisdictions, school districts, community health centers, and other partners by rapidly deploying and then sustaining COVID-19 response services, including Case Investigation and Contact Tracing, Vaccine Support Services, Resource Coordination and Epidemiology.
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Tracing Health is advancing health equity by prioritizing hiring from within the communities we serve, strengthening trust, and deepening our impact with culturally centered and primary language services. While responding to COVID-19, we are also building the diverse, qualified public health workforce America needs.
A PUBLIC HEALTH Pandemic Response Team
Tracing Health has recruited over 650 + staff and provided each with 100+ hours of training
“This job is special to me because I’m not only working for the community, but for my family members and for my neighbors as well.”
Play VideoHameda Dil Mohamed, Multilingual Contact Tracer
Hameda Dil Mohamed
Multilingual Contact Tracer
“When my family and I arrived in the U.S. we faced so many obstacles. For instance, there were resources in the community, but we didn’t find the right person to help us access them. We came to the point where one of my family members had to leave us to work somewhere else. So when I was hired as a contractor, I told myself that I will never let my clients go through what my family has gone through.”
View Video Transcript
“Contact tracing is is more than just tracing someone’s contacts. It’s being there for them. It’s letting them know that I’m human as well. You don’t have to just give me your information. You can talk to me. I’m a real person, so let them know that real recognize real. Its more than just collecting data.”
Play VideoJennifer Franklin, Contact Tracer
Jennifer Franklin
Contact Tracer
“Tracing Health is a community. It’s like a heart puzzle. And we all are pieces to it. And we fit. We all fit.”
View Video Transcript
“I have one goal in life, and that is to continue to serve the public. My purpose here on this planet is to provide the best possible service to those who I encounter on the street, to those who might be struggling with income disparities or from those who might not have what I have, I want to continue to be a public servant and serve the public in my best capacity.”
Play VideoJohn Franco, Bilingual Resource Coordinator
John Franco
Bilingual Resource Coordinator
“I struggled with COVID-19 far beyond what I thought I would ever experience, and my experience with a contact tracer helped me essentially save my mother’s life. When I got sick with covid, I had no idea I was exposed. It took that call from a contact tracer to let me know the day before I went to see my mother. And because of that call, I know that I helped save her life. My goal was to use that experience to help shape the foundation of what it is to stay home and how many lives each individual can save.”
View Video Transcript
“Some of the things that I look for in a candidate is that they have a customer service oriented mindset, that they’re flexible, that they’re willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done.”
Play VideoMaria Contreras, Bilingual Recruiter
Maria Contreras
Bilingual Recruiter
“I had to hire over 300 contact tracers in a timeframe of 60 days. Some of the skills I had to develop was definitely the ability to fast review a resume and pick up on the key skills I needed so that I can reach out to individuals and schedule interviews. I was doing anywhere from 13 to 15 interviews a day, and I had to be able to identify in those 15 to 30 minutes whether the individual would make a great contact tracer and had the skill set required to be successful and make a difference and impact in our team. Some of the things that I look for in a candidate is that they have a customer service oriented mindset, that they’re flexible, that they’re willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done.”
View Video Transcript
“Resource coordination is the identifying of various different resources and services at the community, the county, state and even federal levels, and then relaying that information over to people who have been affected by COVID-19. It’s really important because it addresses the social determinants of health, which play a huge role on health outcomes.”
Play VideoArnold Dimas, Resource Coordinator
Arnold Dimas
Resource Coordinator
“Resource coordination is the identifying of various different resources and services at the community, the county, state and even federal levels, and then relaying that information over to people who have been affected by COVID-19. It’s really important because it addresses the social determinants of health, which play a huge role on health outcomes.”
View video transcript
“My ultimate goal is to help the Latino population in terms of mental health and general health.”
Play VideoPaulina Jafarzadeh, Bilingual Contact Tracer
Paulina Jafarzadeh
Bilingual Contact Tracer
“I’m taking a Tracing Health sponsored class to get a certification for Migrant Health and Nutrition. So that’s going to just propel me with achieving my ultimate goal of helping the Latino population in terms of mental health and general health.”
View video transcription
“This pandemic has forced a lot of people to slow down and stop, and reconnect with themselves and their loved ones.”
Play VideoJae Williams, Bilingual Contact Tracer
Jae Williams
Bilingual Contact Tracer
“I was also able to see firsthand that minority communities have been hit the hardest by this disease and that was very emotional. But I think it also provided a wake up for a lot of people.”
“Working during a pandemic has taught me that when we resource and fund public health the way it needs to be, we can accomplish amazing things.”
Play VideoEmily Henke, Executive Director, Oregon Public Health Institute
Emily Henke
Executive Director, Oregon Public Health Institute
“It’s important to have a local and culturally competent/multilingual, multicultural workforce doing this work because contact tracing at the end of the day is about trust. Contact tracing is not a healthcare encounter. You don’t need to be a trained medical provider to do contact tracing. What you need to do is establish trust, be able to communicate, ensure that the person you’re speaking with has heard and really understood your message.”
“To me, the data has a voice because that voice is talking to me, its telling me their suffering, their pain, their love, their empathy.”
Play VideoGladys Jimenez, Bilingual Contact Tracer
Gladys Jimenez
Bilingual Contact Tracer
“When you call a person, you have 10 to 15 minutes to get the information. But at the same time, in order to get the information, I need them trust to me. Then every call is like a dance because a person will give you some, and at the same time will step back…And then you come forward and then you go back.. Then I realize that’s what you’re doing. You’re dancing, and the better you get, the better the dance will be. People will trust you.”
View video transcription
“Living through the pandemic this past year has definitely taught me patience and understanding.”
Play VideoEva Ruiz, Teams Manager
Eva Ruiz
Teams Manager
“It’s been very difficult for people of all different ages and backgrounds. And so definitely being patient with everybody’s situation, and understanding because we we don’t know what situation they may be in at that point in time. So that’s definitely what this has taught me.”
671
new staff have been hired by Tracing Health throughout the course of the pandemic.
With good salary and full benefits the work has provided security and stability to our team, a majority of whom live in the communities hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.
93%
of Tracing Health contact tracers and resource coordinators are bilingual or multilingual.
With 52 Languages spoken we are able to work with a wide-range of communities.
20+
State and local health departments, schools and health systems and other entities protecting the public’s health.
We are now offering our COVID-19 response services throughout California and the Pacific Northwest.
120
hours of training are given to new hires as part of Tracing Health’s onboarding process.
Training covers a wide range of subjects including contact tracing certifications, database training, vaccine education, and culturally centered techniques for effective public health conversations.