Lessons learned from implementing a surge capacity support program for COVID-19 contact management in Ontario

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Epidemiology
• Health Services Research

Background:

• Ontario's public health units (PHUs) faced unprecedented workforce demands for COVID-19 case investigation and contact tracing.
• Maintaining essential public health functions during the pandemic required innovative solutions for surge capacity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness and operational model of Public Health Ontario's Contact Tracing Initiative (CTI).
• To identify lessons learned from the CTI for future public health surge capacity planning.

Main Methods:

• The CTI established a centralized workforce by leveraging existing government personnel.
• Standardized protocols, scripts, and simplified data management were implemented to handle high call volumes.
• The initiative focused on initial and follow-up calls to high-risk close contacts of COVID-19 cases.

Main Results:

• The CTI operated for 23 months, serving 33 of 34 PHUs and supporting over one million calls.
• The initiative demonstrated timeliness, high volume capacity, and efficient resource utilization.
• The CTI proved beneficial during school exposures, easing of public health measures, and vaccine rollout support.

Conclusions:

• The CTI model effectively provided surge capacity support for public health initiatives.
• Strengths included adaptability, efficient resource use, and scalability.
• Lessons learned offer valuable insights for planning future public health emergency responses.