Since 1980, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been organized around constituent centers, institutes, and offices (CIOs). Five centers were created in 1980, which was reflected in CDC's contemporaneous name change from the singular "Center" to plural "Centers". The current centers are descended from these five, with the exception of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and National Center for Health Statistics, which were absorbed from outside CDC and have much longer histories.
During 1980–2005, the CIOs were in a flat structure reporting directly to the CDC Director. In 2005, they were collected into four Coordinating Centers in a matrix organization framework as part of the CDC Futures Initiative, which was intended to increase CDC's efficiency after the 1999 West Nile virus outbreak, 2001 anthrax attacks, and 2002–2004 SARS outbreak. However, in 2009 the Coordinating Centers were replaced with leaner Deputy Director offices. In 2023, the CDC Moving Forward initiative following the COVID-19 pandemic returned to a flat structure.
From its establishment in 1946 until 1980, CDC's organization was mainly oriented around a functional framework of epidemiology, laboratory, and training divisions. During this time, the number of top-level divisions ranged between four and twelve. [1]
CDC's modern organization of having multiple constituent centers, institutes, and offices (CIOs) was established in 1980, at the same time its name changed from the singular "Center for Disease Control" to plural "Centers for Disease Control". The 1980 reorganization replaced the functional framework with an outcome-oriented one, and allowed expansion into areas other than communicable disease. The new organization was spearheaded by CDC Director William Foege and inspired by Health Canada's organization, which was divided into biological, environmental, lifestyle, and medical care divisions. [1]
Five centers were established in 1980: [1]
Additionally, two centers were absorbed by CDC from outside during this period: [1]
CDC's Futures Initiative began in 2003 and was spearheaded by CDC Director Julie Gerberding. [5] [6] It was partially in response to criticism of the agency's response to the 1999 West Nile virus outbreak, the 2001 anthrax attacks, and the 2002–2004 SARS outbreak. It was also noted that these emergency response activities were putting pressures on the CDC Director's time, who also was responsible for to directly overseeing all 11 CIOs. [7] [8]
The strategic planning involved a broadly deliberative process seeking input from employees, partners, and other stakeholders for selecting strategic objectives. [6] It emphasized preparedness as well as health promotion and disease prevention, and also streamlined the funding process for grants to state and local health departments. [5] [6] It reoriented CDC around a matrix organization structure that was less hierarchical, which was intended to prevent silos and enhance organizational flexibility and information sharing. [6] [7]
The reorganization became official in April 2005. [6] [9] The existing CDC centers were collected into four Coordinating Centers: [6]
During this time, there were three independent CIOs: the Coordinating Office for Global Health, the newly formed Coordinating Office for Terrorism Preparedness and Emergency Response, and NIOSH. [6]
There were negative effects in the immediate aftermath of the reorganization, including unpopularity with employees, low morale, and loss of long-term staff. [6] Because many of CDC's leaders were scientists rather than managers, their aversion to the administrative burden of a reorganization led to its perceived failure. [7] In December 2005, five former CDC directors sent Gerberding a letter expressing concern about the reorganization. [10]
The Coordinating Centers were abolished in 2009 by new CDC Director Tom Frieden. [11] [12] [13] Centers were instead placed under Deputy Director offices, which were much leaner than the former Coordinating Centers. For example, the Coordinating Center for Infectious Diseases had 600 employees, while the Office of Infectious Diseases had 12. [12] There were initially three Deputy Director offices, which was increased to four in 2018: [13] [14]
The CDC Moving Forward reorganization occurred in 2023 as a response to lessons learned from CDC's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. [16] [17] The Deputy Director level was removed, returning CDC to a flat structure. The reorganization did not otherwise organizationally affect the infectious disease and non-infectious disease centers, Global Health Center, and NIOSH. However, two centers were merged, while the other five CIOs were absorbed into the Office of the Director. [18]
Three current centers were placed under the Coordinating Office for Infectious Diseases and later the Deputy Director for Infectious Diseases. [14]
Four current centers were placed under either the Coordinating Center for Environmental Health and Injury Prevention, or the Coordinating Center for Health Promotion. They were later under the Deputy Director for Non-Infectious Diseases. [14]
{{cite journal}}
: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of November 2024 (link)