Academic Health Partnership Prioritizes Workforce Development in Florida

May 19, 2025 | Mayela Arana

In Hillsborough County, the Florida Department of Health (DOH-Hillsborough) and the University of South Florida (USF) have a long history of working together. Their partnership took on a new level of structure and purpose in 2022 when they formalized an Academic Health Department (AHD) partnership agreement, focused largely on workforce development.

This collaboration, supported by the Public Health Infrastructure Grant (PHIG), creates opportunities for DOH-Hillsborough staff to enhance their skills through USF’s public health programs. By providing structured training and education, the partnership is helping to build a stronger, more prepared public health workforce to serve the county’s 1.5 million residents.

A Longstanding Partnership Embraces a New Opportunity

When CDC released a notice of funding opportunity for PHIG in 2022, the DOH-Hillsborough health officer and the dean of USF’s College of Public Health (COPH) worked together to co-write a successful proposal. One of the resulting contracts formalized their partnership in the name of strengthening the public health workforce through recruitment, training, and retention.

Like many public health agencies, many of DOH-Hillsborough’s employees do not have degrees in public health. The health department is focused on upskilling through coursework and certificate/micro-certificate programs directly related to job tasks. These opportunities are available to every staff member including those categorized as “other personnel services,” non-career services, and certain contracted employees — as DOH-Hillsborough recognizes the importance of extending these educational opportunities to all employees.

Initial PHIG funding was critical in establishing the necessary dedicated staffing and infrastructure for workforce development program offerings at the health department. Current funding continues to support infrastructure, new custom program development, and the educational offerings.

• Infrastructure: USF works with DOH-Hillsborough to conduct staff training needs assessments and has provided training at agency-wide “all-staff” meetings. USF also developed and provides a Certified in Public Health (CPH) exam preparatory course that is open to any health department employee who is eligible to sit for the exam, at no cost to them.
• Custom program development: Additionally, the university, in collaboration with DOH-Hillsborough and two other local county health departments, developed a custom leadership program that groups emerging health department leaders with community partners of their choice (e.g., Healthy Start, Homegrown Hillsborough) and includes two full days of instruction over a six-month period.
• Educational offerings: The health department is also using PHIG funds to cover tuition for current staff to take graduate and undergraduate courses at USF’s COPH and across the university. Representatives from DOH-Hillsborough and USF hold virtual information sessions for staff about available educational offerings, the university enrollment and registration process, and completing internal agency requirements for pursuing and participating in the PHIG-funded opportunities.

Measuring Impact and Continuous Improvement

Given that the bulk of activities in this AHD partnership are currently PHIG-funded, PHIG performance measures provide a clear and valuable opportunity for evaluation. DOH-Hillsborough is focused on three of the PHIG measures that address hiring and retention:

• Number of PHIG-funded positions filled by job classification and program area.
• Overall agency staff retention rate.
• Median number of days to fill a position.

Tracking performance of these measures both contributes to the agency’s overall PHIG evaluation and provides the AHD partnership with a clear process for quality improvement.

Advice for Others Seeking to Establish AHD Partnerships

Learning from the success of USF and DOH-Hillsborough’s partnership, considerations in developing or expanding AHD partnerships include:

• Appreciate the unique nature of each organization. For example, while the health department and university may have a common vision, they may also have different funding category restrictions to consider prior to solidifying the partnership.
• Be mindful that each organization has its own legal considerations. Allow ample time for the proper review of contracts, agreements, and external communication about the joint endeavor.
• Know that, at times, the collaborative process can be complex and challenging. Take a few steps back. Work together to find solutions, and don’t give up.
• Be flexible, humble, and willing to pivot, remaining confident that the partnership will have a bigger impact than your organization would alone.

Learn more about AHD partnerships or explore other workforce development resources from the Public Health Foundation (PHF). If your health agency wants more information about planning support, please submit a PHIG technical assistance request through PHIVE or contact performanceimprovement@astho.org.

Special thanks to Marie Flake, MPH, BSN, RN, and Pauline Rivers, PhD, workforce director at the Florida Department of Health in Hillsborough County, for their contributions to this blog post.