Philly Loses Federal Grants; Hundreds of Public Health Jobs at risk
Philly Loses Federal Grants; Hundreds of Public Health Jobs at Risk
The city of Philadelphia has lost three significant federal grants to its public health department, resulting in the loss of hundreds of workers as well.
The grants, estimated to be worth between $30 million to $50 million, were issued during the COVID-19 era, according to a source who requested anonymity for fear of losing their job.
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the public health department’s disease control division had about 400 contractors. That has since dropped to roughly 300 workers.
“It’s kind of infuriating that the city was not better prepared,” the source said about the city leadership’s response to President Donald Trump administration’s funding cuts. “Now everybody is scrambling.”
Philadelphia Department of Public Health Commissioner Palak Raval-Nelson emailed a department-wide letter in late March describing the situation, according to the document obtained by WHYY News.
“The work that the listed grants fund is critical and supports cross-program, cross divisional and external collaborative work to conduct surveillance, respond to novel and endemic outbreaks, develop plans for future outbreaks, develop capacity to support health department operations and help the most vulnerable Philadelphians survive and thrive,” Raval-Nelson wrote in the letter. “This entire situation is upsetting.”
Dr. Marla Gold, a retired professor of health management and policy at Drexel University and board member, said during the meeting she’s worried about the future of public health.
“One of the greatest threats to public health overall that is happening right now involves the new federal administration in just about every single way,” Gold said.
She then raised concern around Raval-Nelson’s preparation plan for what’s to come.
“We are doing all the things to fortify ourselves,” Raval-Nelson said at the time.
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Information from this article was sourced from WHYY
