Veterinarian Workforce:

Actions Are Needed to Ensure Sufficient Capacity for Protecting Public and Animal Health

GAO-09-178, Feb 4, 2009

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Veterinarians are essential for controlling zoonotic diseases--which spread between animals and humans--such as avian influenza. Most federal veterinarians work in the Departments of Agriculture (USDA), Defense (DOD), and Health and Human Services (HHS). However, there is a growing national shortage of veterinarians. GAO determined the extent to which (1) the federal government has assessed the sufficiency of its veterinarian workforce for routine activities, (2) the federal government has identified the veterinarian workforce needed during a catastrophic event, and (3) federal and state agencies encountered veterinarian workforce challenges during four recent zoonotic outbreaks. GAO surveyed 24 federal entities about their veterinarian workforce; analyzed agency workforce, pandemic, and other plans; and interviewed federal and state officials that responded to four recent zoonotic outbreaks.

The federal government lacks a comprehensive understanding of the sufficiency of its veterinarian workforce. More specifically, four of five component agencies GAO reviewed have assessed the sufficiency of their veterinarian workforce to perform routine activities and have identified current or future concerns. This includes USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services (APHIS), Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), and Agricultural Research Service (ARS); and DOD's Army. Current and future shortages, as well as noncompetitive salaries, were among the concerns identified by these agencies. HHS's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not perform such assessments and did not identify any concerns. In addition, at the department level, USDA and HHS have not assessed their veterinarian workforces across their component agencies, but DOD has a process for doing so. Moreover, there is no governmentwide effort to search for shared solutions, even though 16 of the 24 federal entities that employ veterinarians raised concerns about the sufficiency of this workforce. Further exacerbating these concerns is the number of veterinarians eligible to retire in the near future. GAO's analysis revealed that 27 percent of the veterinarians at APHIS, FSIS, ARS, Army, and FDA will be eligible to retire within 3 years. Efforts to identify the veterinarian workforce needed for a catastrophic event are insufficient. Specifically, agencies' plans lack important elements necessary for continuing essential veterinarian functions during a pandemic, such as identifying which functions must be performed on-site and how they will be carried out if absenteeism reaches 40 percent--the rate predicted at the height of the pandemic and used for planning purposes. In addition, one federal effort to prepare for the intentional introduction of a foreign animal disease is based on the unrealistic assumption that all affected animals will be slaughtered, as the United States has done for smaller outbreaks, making the resulting veterinarian workforce estimates irrelevant. A second effort lacks crucial data, including data on how the disease would spread in wildlife. If wildlife became infected, as they have in the past, response would be greatly complicated and could require more veterinarians and different expertise. Officials from federal and state agencies involved in four recent zoonotic disease outbreaks commonly cited insufficient veterinarian capacity as a workforce challenge. However, 10 of the 17 agencies that GAO interviewed have not assessed their own veterinarian workforce's response to individual outbreaks and are thus missing opportunities to improve future responses. Moreover, none of the entities GAO reviewed has looked across outbreaks to identify common workforce challenges and possible solutions.

Status Legend:

More Info
  • Review Pending-GAO has not yet assessed implementation status.
  • Open-Actions to satisfy the intent of the recommendation have not been taken or are being planned, or actions that partially satisfy the intent of the recommendation have been taken.
  • Closed-implemented-Actions that satisfy the intent of the recommendation have been taken.
  • Closed-not implemented-While the intent of the recommendation has not been satisfied, time or circumstances have rendered the recommendation invalid.
    • Review Pending
    • Open
    • Closed - implemented
    • Closed - not implemented

    Recommendations for Executive Action

    Recommendation: To improve the ability of the federal veterinarian workforce to carry out routine activities, prepare for a catastrophic event, and respond to zoonotic disease outbreaks and to help ensure the federal veterinarian workforce is sufficient to meet the critical responsibilities it carries out on a routine basis, the Secretary of Agriculture should direct FSIS to periodically assess whether its level of inspection resources dedicated to food safety and humane slaughter activities is sufficient.

    Agency Affected: Department of Agriculture

    Status: Open

    Comments: According to Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), the agency is conducting quarterly assessments and prepares a "Demand for Service" report providing results of these assessments. GAO is in the process of reviewing the 3rd quarter FY 2009 report.

    Recommendation: To improve the ability of the federal veterinarian workforce to carry out routine activities, prepare for a catastrophic event, and respond to zoonotic disease outbreaks and to help ensure the federal veterinarian workforce is sufficient to meet the critical responsibilities it carries out on a routine basis, the Secretary of Agriculture should conduct a departmentwide assessment of USDA's veterinarian workforce--based, for example, on workforce assessments by its component agencies--to identify current and future workforce needs (including training and employee development) and departmentwide solutions to problems shared by its agencies. When the Secretary completes the assessment, the results should be forwarded to the Director of the Office of Personnel Management.

    Agency Affected: Department of Agriculture

    Status: Open

    Comments: USDA is participating in OPM's Veterinary Medical Officer Talent Management Advisory Council. In addition, USDA has drafted a position paper on Veterinary Medical Officer Workforce Strategies taking into consideration veterinarian workforce data from the Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS), and the Agricultural Research Service (ARS).

    Recommendation: To improve the ability of the federal veterinarian workforce to carry out routine activities, prepare for a catastrophic event, and respond to zoonotic disease outbreaks and to help ensure the federal veterinarian workforce is sufficient to meet the critical responsibilities it carries out on a routine basis, the Secretary of Health and Human Services should direct the department's component agencies that employ veterinarians to conduct regular workforce assessments and that the Secretary then conduct a departmentwide assessment of HHS's veterinarian workforce to identify current and future workforce needs (including training and employee development) and solutions to problems shared by its agencies. When the Secretary completes the assessment, the results should be forwarded to the Director of the Office of Personnel Management.

    Agency Affected: Department of Health and Human Services

    Status: Open

    Comments: As a first step, HHS is participating in OPM's Veterinary Medical Officer Talent Management Advisory Council.

    Recommendation: To improve the ability of the federal veterinarian workforce to carry out routine activities, prepare for a catastrophic event, and respond to zoonotic disease outbreaks and to help ensure the federal veterinarian workforce is sufficient to meet the critical responsibilities it carries out on a routine basis, the Director of the Office of Personnel Management should determine, based on USDA's and HHS's departmentwide veterinarian workforce evaluations, whether a governmentwide effort is needed to address shortcomings in the sufficiency of the current and future veterinarian workforce.

    Agency Affected: Office of Personnel Management

    Status: Closed - Implemented

    Comments: On November 25, 2009, the Director of OPM issued a memorandum to all federal agencies with veterinary medical officers (VMO) asking them to provide leadership support for designing and implementing a governmentwide VMO workforce strategy known as the VMO Talent Management Advisory Council (TMAC). The VMO TMAC held its first meeting in March 2010.A charter has been developed and the draft is being reviewed by the Governance and Planning Action Team. Agencies are in the process of supplying OPM with workforce data. OPM anticipates having aggregate data by January 2011.

    Recommendation: To improve the ability of the federal veterinarian workforce to carry out routine activities, prepare for a catastrophic event, and respond to zoonotic disease outbreaks and to help the veterinarian workforce continue essential functions during a pandemic, the Secretaries of Agriculture, Defense, and Health and Human Services should ensure that their component agencies that employ veterinarians complete pandemic plans that contain the necessary elements put forth in DHS's continuity of operations pandemic guidance, including periodically testing, training, and exercising plans.

    Agency Affected: Department of Defense

    Status: Open

    Comments: The Department of Defense has approved the Army's pandemic influenza plan. GAO is waiting for the Army to provide details for continuing essential veterinarian functions during a pandemic, such as identifying how functions will be carried out if absenteeism reaches 40 percent-the rate predicted at the height of the pandemic and used for planning purposes.

    Recommendation: To improve the ability of the federal veterinarian workforce to carry out routine activities, prepare for a catastrophic event, and respond to zoonotic disease outbreaks and to help the veterinarian workforce continue essential functions during a pandemic, the Secretaries of Agriculture, Defense, and Health and Human Services should ensure that their component agencies that employ veterinarians complete pandemic plans that contain the necessary elements put forth in DHS's continuity of operations pandemic guidance, including periodically testing, training, and exercising plans.

    Agency Affected: Department of Health and Human Services

    Status: Open

    Comments: No information received

    Recommendation: To improve the ability of the federal veterinarian workforce to carry out routine activities, prepare for a catastrophic event, and respond to zoonotic disease outbreaks and to help the veterinarian workforce continue essential functions during a pandemic, the Secretaries of Agriculture, Defense, and Health and Human Services should ensure that their component agencies that employ veterinarians complete pandemic plans that contain the necessary elements put forth in DHS's continuity of operations pandemic guidance, including periodically testing, training, and exercising plans.

    Agency Affected: Department of Agriculture

    Status: Open

    Comments: Waiting for USDA to provide updated pandemic plans.

    Recommendation: To improve the ability of the federal veterinarian workforce to carry out routine activities, prepare for a catastrophic event, and respond to zoonotic disease outbreaks and to improve estimates of the veterinarian workforce needed to respond to a large-scale foot-and-mouth disease outbreak, the Secretary of Agriculture should detail in a contingency response plan how a response using vaccines would be implemented.

    Agency Affected: Department of Agriculture

    Status: Open

    Comments: No information received.

    Recommendation: To improve the ability of the federal veterinarian workforce to carry out routine activities, prepare for a catastrophic event, and respond to zoonotic disease outbreaks and to improve estimates of the veterinarian workforce needed to respond to a large-scale foot-and-mouth disease outbreak, the Secretary of Homeland Security should coordinate an interagency effort to identify the data necessary to model the spread of disease in wildlife and how best to gather these data.

    Agency Affected: Department of Homeland Security

    Status: Open

    Comments: According to DHS, work is underway to identify the important issues of foot-and-mouth disease in wildlife and sources of data. Specifically, there is an interagency effort through the Foreign Animal Disease Threat (FADT) Subcommittee of the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC). FADT is currently co-chaired by USDA and DHS and its members includes representatives from DHS,USDA, NSF, EPA, HHS, DOI, DOD, DOS, and the Smithsonian Institution. The FADT Subcommittee is in the process of commissioning an Interagency Wildlife Task Force to examine the potential role of wildlife in foreign animal disease outbreaks. GAO is waiting for the results of that task force review to understand the gaps, how they will be addressed, and time frames for doing so.

    Recommendation: To improve the ability of the federal veterinarian workforce to carry out routine activities, prepare for a catastrophic event, and respond to zoonotic disease outbreaks and to improve the ability of the federal veterinarian workforce to respond to zoonotic outbreaks in the future while also effectively carrying out routine activities, the Secretaries of those departments most likely to be involved in response efforts--such as USDA, HHS, and Interior--should ensure that their agencies conduct postoutbreak assessments of workforce management.

    Agency Affected: Department of Agriculture

    Status: Open

    Comments: No information received.

    Recommendation: To improve the ability of the federal veterinarian workforce to carry out routine activities, prepare for a catastrophic event, and respond to zoonotic disease outbreaks and to improve the ability of the federal veterinarian workforce to respond to zoonotic outbreaks in the future while also effectively carrying out routine activities, the Secretaries of those departments most likely to be involved in response efforts--such as USDA, HHS, and Interior--should ensure that their agencies in coordination with relevant federal, state, and local agencies, periodically review the postoutbreak assessments to identify common workforce challenges and strategies for addressing them.

    Agency Affected: Department of Agriculture

    Status: Open

    Comments: No information received.

    Recommendation: To improve the ability of the federal veterinarian workforce to carry out routine activities, prepare for a catastrophic event, and respond to zoonotic disease outbreaks and to improve the ability of the federal veterinarian workforce to respond to zoonotic outbreaks in the future while also effectively carrying out routine activities, the Secretaries of those departments most likely to be involved in response efforts--such as USDA, HHS, and Interior--should ensure that their agencies in coordination with relevant federal, state, and local agencies, periodically review the postoutbreak assessments to identify common workforce challenges and strategies for addressing them.

    Agency Affected: Department of Health and Human Services

    Status: Open

    Comments: No information received

    Recommendation: To improve the ability of the federal veterinarian workforce to carry out routine activities, prepare for a catastrophic event, and respond to zoonotic disease outbreaks and to improve the ability of the federal veterinarian workforce to respond to zoonotic outbreaks in the future while also effectively carrying out routine activities, the Secretaries of those departments most likely to be involved in response efforts--such as USDA, HHS, and Interior--should ensure that their agencies in coordination with relevant federal, state, and local agencies, periodically review the postoutbreak assessments to identify common workforce challenges and strategies for addressing them.

    Agency Affected: Department of the Interior

    Status: Open

    Comments: According to the Department of the Interior (DOI), in January 2010, it engaged in discussions with other Federal agencies (FEMA, HHS, and USDA) to develop protocols for conducting post-outbreak assessments of workforce management for zoonotic and wildlife disease outbreaks. These agencies are also identifying common workforce challenges and strategies to address those challenges. DOI is working with other state and federal agencies, through the National Fish and Wildlife Health Initiative, to assist in developing a post assessment protocol that can serve as a template for conducting post assessment outbreaks for emerging diseases.

    Recommendation: To improve the ability of the federal veterinarian workforce to carry out routine activities, prepare for a catastrophic event, and respond to zoonotic disease outbreaks and to improve the ability of the federal veterinarian workforce to respond to zoonotic outbreaks in the future while also effectively carrying out routine activities, the Secretaries of those departments most likely to be involved in response efforts--such as USDA, HHS, and Interior--should ensure that their agencies conduct postoutbreak assessments of workforce management.

    Agency Affected: Department of the Interior

    Status: Open

    Comments: According to the Department of the Interior (DOI), the US Geological Survey (USGS) hosted a meeting for DOI bureaus (USGS, National Park Service, US Fish and Wildlife Service)to conduct post outbreak assessment of workforce management related to DOI's interagency response to highly pathogenic avian influenza. USGS is also working to establish a DOI interagency "Ecological Health" working group to enhance post-outbreak assessments of workforce management.

    Recommendation: To improve the ability of the federal veterinarian workforce to carry out routine activities, prepare for a catastrophic event, and respond to zoonotic disease outbreaks and to improve the ability of the federal veterinarian workforce to respond to zoonotic outbreaks in the future while also effectively carrying out routine activities, the Secretaries of those departments most likely to be involved in response efforts--such as USDA, HHS, and Interior--should ensure that their agencies conduct postoutbreak assessments of workforce management.

    Agency Affected: Department of Health and Human Services

    Status: Open

    Comments: No information received