Currently employed public health administrators: are they prepared?

Challenges to the public health system come from shifting expectations of government, economic cycles, and demographic changes. Public health administrators, charged with the responsibility of both leading and managing their agencies, those who are recognized as having significant management responsibility and influence over programs and hold positions of leadership, must be prepared. The skills needed by administrators were identified using a focus group approach. The critical skills identified include public health values, epidemiology and advocacy, organizational management, cultural competency, coalition building, communications, managing change, strategic thinking and planning, Informatics, and team building. Potential action steps were also identified.