Resources

January 5, 2022 / PressThought Leadership

The connection between the pandemic and housing insecurity is clear: “If you ask them why they’re applying for rental assistance, ninety percent of my clients will say, ‘I lost my job due to being sick with COVID,’ or ‘I lost my job because there was no childcare for my kid,’ or ‘I had to stay home due to the schools closing,” said ERA team member Lorena Paredes.

Since March of 2020, the Oregon Public Health Institute’s (OPHI) Tracing Health team has helped communities stay safe and healthy through COVID-19 contact tracing. However, our pandemic response work has never been limited to contact tracing: over the past two years, the team has also helped community members access resources like grocery delivery during quarantine, connected vulnerable […]

November 2, 2021 / Thought Leadership

COVID-19 Contact Networks in Hispanic and Latino Communities– Analysis of contact tracing data from a large California healthcare provider network

Across the United States, COVID-19 is disproportionately affecting Hispanic and Latino communities. These communities are experiencing higher diagnoses rates and increased likelihood for hospitalization and death. In fact nearly half of of the COVID-19 related deaths in California were among Latinos.  The analysis found that Hispanic and Latino people in this sample were more likely […]

October 29, 2021 / Thought Leadership

Impact Hiring a Pandemic Response Workforce- A Tracing Health Employee Spotlight – Mary Lashinsky, Director of Recruitment and Talent

Hiring qualified candidates in the best of times is a specific and specialized skill set. But hiring during a surging pandemic also required an emergency response mindset. Time was of the essence, and lives depended on the team standing up a contact tracing workforce urgently. Mary put together a diverse Recruitment and Talent team of […]

October 28, 2021 / Program Guides

Customized Contact Tracing Services for Schools & Supervisory Unions

Tracing Health has been supporting counties and public health departments with COVID-19 response services since March 2020. We have teams of well trained and highly experienced multi lingual contact tracers ready to support School Boards and Supervisory Unions with contact tracing efforts and other pandemic related services.  Safe, healthy and stable schools are essential for community […]

October 8, 2021 / Program GuidesThought Leadership

Workforce Development: Turning Pandemic Response Into a Long Term Investment in Health Equity

The goal was to provide employees with a wide array of optional ongoing professional development andeducation programs to support successful reentry into the job market. Carrie acknowledges that what reallymade the opportunity unique was that it was paired with an impact hiring strategy that prioritized onboarding anew and diverse workforce best suited to work with […]

October 7, 2021 / Program GuidesThought Leadership

The Importance of Technology Tools in Pandemic Response and the Impetus for the MARI (Microbe Awareness and Risk Intervention) Platform

“The MARI system that Hemanth, Sheila, and Kedar developed gave Tracing Health access to data directly from laboratories and facilities, thus enabling contact tracing to begin within one day of a positive COVID-19 test. This crucial efficiency was a lifesaving improvement in the fight to contain the pandemic.”

September 20, 2021 / PressThought Leadership

Oregon Public Health Institute responds to COVID-19 through contact tracing

Oregon Public Broadcasting | “Think Out Loud” | September 20, 2021 With COVID-19 cases continuing to overwhelm hospitals, an Oregon nonprofit is helping counties up and down the West Coast do an essential job better: contact tracing. The Oregon Public Health Institute launched its Tracing Health program in the summer of 2020, training hundreds of […]

September 19, 2021 / Program Guides

Tracing Health’s Vaccination Support Services– Remote Vaccine Outreach & Support

Once COVID-19 vaccine’s became widely available, our remote CT/CI workforce was able to quickly stand up vaccine call centers and databases. As our new Vaccine Teams came online, they began calling prior COVID-19 cases and contacts already in our databases to help schedule vaccine appointments and answer questions or concerns they might have. In areas […]

September 15, 2021 / PressThought Leadership

Oregon Public Health Institute’s Emily Henke Recognized by the de Beaumont Foundation as a Leader in Public Health

Henke joins a cohort of 40 rising leaders improving health and equity across the country  September 14, 2021 (Portland, Oregon): – The de Beaumont Foundation today announced that Emily Henke, executive director of the Oregon Public Health Institute (OPHI)–a nonprofit dedicated to advancing health and equity–has been selected from among hundreds of applicants as one […]

September 2, 2021 / PressThought Leadership

Changing Minds: What Moves the Needle for the Unvaccinated?

By Kathleen Doheny, WebMD, September 2, 2021 Not so long ago, Heather Simpson of Dallas was known as the anti-vaccine mom who dressed as “the measles” for Halloween. She painted red spots on her face and posted her photo on Facebook, joking: “Was trying to think of the least scary thing I could be for […]

August 31, 2021 / PressThought Leadership

As Delta Surges, Contact Tracing Re-Takes COVID Center Stage

By Kathleen Doheny, WebMD, August 31, 2021 As the pandemic raged last year, Ilish Pérez, a contact tracer and case interviewer for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, would often reach out to more than 100 people a day. She would talk to people about their positive COVID test result and tell others […]

August 28, 2021 / Program Guides

Tracing Health’s Workforce Development Strategy: Experienced, Effective & Equity-Driven

Tracing Health is building the diverse, qualified public health workforce America needs. Our robust training program and commitment to COVID-19 contact tracing and workforce development is designed to launch Tracing Health staff into permanent public health careers.

August 26, 2021 / Program Guides

A Public Health Workforce Solution

PHI is committed to building a workforce that has the tools and training to both respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and quickly integrate with other healthcare, public health, and community engagement efforts. Tracing Health combines best practices and an equity-driven approach to provide a comprehensive suite of COVID-19 support services to health departments and healthcare […]

August 26, 2021 / Program Guides

Tracing Health Program Overview

A Program of Public Health Institute & Oregon Public Health Institute

August 26, 2021 / Thought Leadership

The Operational Success of Tracing Health- A leadership spotlight with Audrey Seger-Sprain, Tracing Health & Public Health Institute Senior Director of Operations

Tracing Health’s operational structure and goals were built on four key pillars that guided Tracing Health throughout the operational build-out: Prioritizing Impact Hiring, Intentional Training and Effective Onboarding, Developing a Public Health Workforce for the Future and Honoring Staff and Treating Employees with Respect.

August 9, 2021 / Program Guides

Tracing Health’s Remote and On-Site Vaccination Support Services

August 1, 2021 / Thought Leadership

Emily Henke, PNW & OPHI Executive Director- The Vision For A Culturally and Linquistically Centered Contact Tracing Workforce

My name is Emily Henke and I’m the executive director of the Oregon Public Health Institute. Tracing Health was born out of necessity in March 2020. The pandemic was increasing in the United States and contact tracing was coming into focus as the strategy that we would use across the country to mitigate the spread. […]

August 1, 2021 / Thought Leadership

Dr. Marta Induni, PHD, Tracing Health Program Director: The Theory Behind The Tracing Health Program

Equity is not is not difficult. It’s an access issue. And so we need to really figure out how to better create access for people, whether it be vaccines, tests or any public health issue.

July 29, 2021 / Thought Leadership

Carrie Rose, Workforce Development Advisor – Building A More Diverse, Well-Trained Public Health Workforce

My name is Carrie Rose. I’m the senior adviser for Workforce Development with the Tracing Health Team. What Is Workforce Development? So what we mean by workforce development is taking the time to really see and understand how we can build the capacity of all of our staff. And then to match that with the […]

July 24, 2021 / Thought Leadership

Debbie Hintz, Director of Data and Informatics – The Importance Of Reliable Technology To Fight COVID-19

My name is Debbie Hintz, I’m the Director of Technical Operations for the Tracing Health program. My role at Tracing Health is the Director of Technical Operations. I oversee a team that developed a software system that allows us to do case investigations and contact tracing for COVID-19. The main purpose of the software that […]

July 22, 2021 / Thought Leadership

Stephanie Rivera – California Contact Tracing Support Initiative (CCTSI)

My name is Stephanie Rivera. I am the executive director for the California Contact Tracing Support Initiative for Tracing Health. What is CCTSI (California Contact Tracing Support Initiative)? The CCTSI is the California Contact Tracing Support Initiative, and it plays a very special role and important role in contact tracing. Part of it is that […]

July 22, 2021 / Press

KGI honors COVID-19 response team members

Claremont’s Keck Graduate Institute has awarded L.A. Care Scholarship Awards for the Master of Science in Community Medicine program to two team members from Tracing Health, a COVID-19 response initiative of the Public Health Institute in partnership with Kaiser Permanente and the Oregon Public Health Institute. Data Analyst Karina Quiroz and Community Care Specialist Vadim […]

July 19, 2021 / Program Guides

Workforce Development– Building a healthcare workforce reflective of the communities we serve

Data demonstrates that communities of color are hardest hit by the physical effects of the virus, and that women (especially women of color) are bearing the pandemic’s economic fallout. To combat these inequities, Tracing Health has hired, trained, and deployed contact tracing teams that are from the communities we serves– aimed at furthering professional development […]

July 19, 2021 / Program Guides

A Contact Tracing Program Built to Succeed– Building a well-trained pandemic response team is a community wide benefit

Contact tracing, at its core, is about creating trust. It involves trusted messengers passing credible information to help people make informed decisions about their health. Black and Brown communities, immigrants, and non English speakers, however, have both present and historical reasons to feel mistrustful of health systems and providers. Tracing Health was envisioned as a […]

June 19, 2021 / Program Guides

The MARI Difference– Developing new technology tools to increase speed of reaching contacts

With MARI’s ease of customization and updatable software, and its ability to capture additional data fields that are not available in CalCONNECT, it’s clear that MARI will continue to stay relevant and adaptable for future uses. Since its launch, the PHI/ Tracing Health Data Operations team has been continuously upgrading the system with workflow enhancements […]

February 17, 2021 / Press

PHI’s COVID-19 Response Highlighted in Stanford Social Innovation Review

By Kathleen Kelly Janus, Stanford Social Innovation Review, Feb. 17, 2021 A piece by Kathleen Kelly Janus, a senior advisor on social innovation to Governor Gavin Newsom, highlights PHI’s work in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including our Tracing Health contact tracing program and Together Toward Health, which supports community-based organizations in heavily impacted areas […]

January 18, 2021 / Press

COVID-19 Contact Tracers in Spokane are Now Screening People for Mental Health Issues

By Arielle Dreher • January 18, 2021, Seattle Times Calling to tell someone they have tested positive for the novel coronavirus is like being a bearer of bad news over and over again. In recent months, contact tracing calls have been met with more strained responses, especially around the holidays, where a positive test result […]

January 14, 2021 / Thought Leadership

Going Viral: Marta Induni Joins Paula Poundstone to Discuss Contact Tracing

Listen to PHI’s Marta Induni talk about contact tracing with Paula Poundstone. Find out more about how contact tracing works and why it is so critical in fighting COVID, on Nobody listens to Paula Poundstone. With the surge of COVID-19 cases in the U.S., contact tracing has become vital in stopping COVID-19. In this episode […]

December 23, 2020 / Press

Contact Tracers Provide Empathetic Ears To People Struggling With Isolation

By Doug Nadvornick • Dec 23, 2020, Spokane Public Radio In the holiday season, when people are staying home to keep each other safe, Covid-19 contact tracers are providing friendly voices for people with the coronavirus. Dr. Marta Induni of PHI’s Tracing Health program and Jessica Ochoa, a contact tracing team leader in Spokane working […]

September 10, 2020 / Press

Contact Tracing Becomes More Prevalent Occupation in Spokane

By Virginia Thomas, Spokane Journal of Business, September 10th, 2020 After more than 5,000 positive COVID-19 tests in Spokane County since March, more than 100 people at the Spokane Regional Health District are dedicated to investigating cases of COVID-19 and tracing contacts. Thirty-two staff from the Public Health Institute’s Tracing Health program, hired locally from […]

August 11, 2020 / Press

How Community-Based Contact Tracing Can Help Reduce California’s Coronavirus Numbers

Nicole Nixon, Capital Public Radio, August 11, 2020, Following a summertime surge and data reporting issues, California is looking to contain COVID-19 outbreaks through targeted contact tracing in hotspot areas. Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on Monday $81.8 million in philanthropic aid to bolster contact tracing and quarantine efforts. The bulk of the funding — a […]

July 19, 2020 / Press

Spokane Health District Hires Group to Do Contact Tracing, as Cases Continue to Surge

By Arielle Dreher, The Spokesman Review, July 19, 2020 With a surge in local coronavirus cases, Spokane Washington has hired Tracing Health, PHI’s contact tracing program, to help with COVID-19 suppression. Tracing Health program director Dr. Marta Induni comments that contact tracing is a vital part of not only slowing the spread of the virus […]

June 26, 2020 / Press

Clark County bolsters outbreak investigation staff as area reopens

By Wyatt Stayner, The Columbian, June 6, 2020 At Wednesday’s Clark County Board of Health meeting, Clark County Public Health Officer Dr. Alan Melnick ran through criteria for entering Phase 3 of Washington’s COVID-19 recovery plan. As he briefed the Clark County Councilors, they looked at metrics in Melnick’s Powerpoint presentation. Nearly every statistic was […]

June 18, 2020 / Press

Contact tracing helped Clark County move into Phase 2

Partnership with Public Health Institutes gives quarantined contacts support, resources By Kelly Moyer, Camas-Washougal Post-Record, June 18, 2020 Clark County officials say a new COVID-19 contact-tracing partnership between the county and the nonprofit Public Health Institute (PHI) is helping county residents, including those in Camas and Washougal, move safely through Governor Jay Inslee’s four-phase state […]

June 16, 2020 / Press

Clark County’s Not-So-Secret Weapon in the War on Coronavirus

ontact notification plays a key role in pandemic response CLARK COUNTY — During the week of May 18, as word trickled into Clark County Public Health about cases of COVID-19 popping up at a Vancouver frozen fruit packing facility, the county’s contact notification system was put to its first major test. Just a few days […]