HHS leadership in preparing for and responding to public health emergencies leaves room for improvement, a federal watchdog found in a report released Jan. 27.
The Government Accountability Office "found persistent deficiencies" in the department's ability to perform those responsibilities.
The deficiencies "have hindered the nation's response to the current COVID-19 pandemic and a variety of past threats, including other infectious diseases — such as the H1N1 influenza pandemic, Zika and Ebola — and extreme weather events, such as hurricanes," the GAO concluded.
The GAO credited HHS' efforts to address 115 recommendations it has made related to public health emergencies since fiscal year 2007, but said more than 70 remain open.
"HHS has not addressed our September 2020 recommendation to work with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to develop plans to mitigate supply chain shortages for the remainder of the pandemic, thus contributing to the shortage of such supplies as of January 2022," according to the report.
The report also cited deficiencies in areas such as "collecting and analyzing complete and consistent data to inform decision-making" and "providing clear and consistent communication to key partners and the public."
The GAO said it is adding HHS to its high-risk list to help ensure progress in strengthening the agency's leadership and coordination for public health emergencies. The GAO issues the list every two years at the start of each congressional session.
HHS officials said Jan. 27 that they were reviewing the GAO report and its conclusions and working to improve, according to The Washington Post.
"We share GAO's focus and urgency in battling this once-in-a-century pandemic and desire to ensure we never again face a pandemic of this magnitude," HHS spokesperson Sarah Lovenheim said in a statement shared with the newspaper.
Jessica Farb, the GAO's managing director for healthcare, said the federal watchdog also found examples of good performance at HHS, such as the COVID-19 vaccination rollout, according to the Post.
Read the full GAO report here.