Study: Threats to healthcare officials, workers resulted in exodus from field

A new report highlights the reasons why frontline healthcare workers and health officials left the field during the COVID-19 pandemic. Spoiler alert: Harassment from others — and even hate mail — helped to fuel the departures.

The study was published in this month’s issue of Public Health in Practice. Up to 30% of the health workers walked away from their jobs during the pandemic, which made the situation even harder for remaining workers and healthcare organizations, the report stated.

A team from the University of Delaware evaluated surveys from state and local health departments in 23 states that were conducted in the fall of 2020 and summer of 2021. More than half of local health directors reported harassment of themselves or their staff from March 2020 to January 2021. One-third of public health leaders retired, resigned or were fired because of the threats, the surveys showed.

The New York Times reported in 2021 that more than 500 top health officials across the country resigned their jobs, partly due to abuse and threats. The authors of the report say that public health officials need their fair share of protection to do their jobs. 

Jeff Duchin, MD, a health officer for Seattle and King County, Washington, said members of the public came to his house to threaten him during the pandemic.

“I had good support from the King County Sheriff,” Duchin said, adding that threats against him have decreased but he still has support from the sheriff’s office.

Duchin also saw healthcare workers threatened by others. “Frontline workers took a lot of abuse,” he said. “And it’s created a wave of early retirements and staffing shortages.”

Julie Ward, RN, PhD, a professor and researcher at Vanderbilt University who published research on threats to public health and medical officials during the pandemic, said there will be a lack of future leaders from threats.

“If they don’t feel safe at work, it can’t be sustained and effective,” Ward said. “Knowing what we know now, we have to protect workers so we are not losing public health leadership during a crisis.”