New CDC Director Dr. Erica Schwartz said rebuilding public and employee trust will be a central focus for her first 100 days as the agency confronts a major measles resurgence, staffing shortages, and questions about the transparency of its disease surveillance.

Dr. Schwartz emphasized that measles could cause severe complications and defended the safety and effectiveness of the MMR vaccine. She also said the CDC is working to establish a standardized definition for measles-related deaths amid scrutiny over how the agency reports fatalities.

Internally, Dr. Schwartz acknowledged that workforce reductions have overwhelmed agency leaders, left some congressionally funded programs without staff, and damaged employees’ sense of psychological safety. The CDC is evaluating whether its long-term staffing should remain near pandemic-era levels or return to a smaller pre-pandemic workforce.

For healthcare organizations, the comments highlight the importance of maintaining measles readiness as vaccination rates decline. Hospitals should reinforce screening and isolation protocols, verify workforce immunity, monitor public health guidance, and ensure adequate supplies of respirators and other infection prevention products. CDC staffing and surveillance changes could also affect how quickly health systems receive reliable outbreak data and operational guidance.