St. Louis has been hit by two tornadoes in the last two months. A fire closed a new nursing home last month in Enterprise, Alabama, forcing residents to evacuate. Cleveland has set up a current interruption while he is flooded with visitors for the NCAA women's basketball final.
In any case, local health officials played a key role in containing the relapses, assist hospitals, find new houses for displaced residents and coordinating the efforts with fire, the police and other departments of the city.
The financing for this work, about $ 735 million in total, comes from the centers for the control and prevention of diseases. In the budget proposed by President Trump, the money has been reset.
The proposed cut left the health officials increasingly alarmed, in particular since he followed $ 12 billion in cuts to state and local health departments in March. Nineteen states and the Columbia district have sued to prevent reductions.
“Natural and natural catastrophes do not depend on federal funding, but an answer to save life,” said dr. Matifadza Hlatshwayo Davis, director of the Health of St. Louis. (Dr. Davis resigned but remains until the city finds a replacement.)
The city is facing huge dolines, habitually faces floods and is located on a fault line that puts her at risk of earthquakes. “We really rely on this funding,” said dr. Davis. Without it, “the entire population of St. Louis and its visitors would be vulnerable”.
The Department of Health and Human Services has directed questions about the budget proposed to the management and budget office, which did not respond to a commentary request.
The funds are channeled into local health departments through the cooperative agreement for the preparation for public health emergencies. The program was created after the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, to help the nation prepare for biological threats and other emergencies.
Money helps officials to manage the impacts on public health of natural and artificial catastrophes and contain outbreaks of infectious diseases. He also pays the salaries of expert officials who help prepare and mitigate damage to public health.
The amounts vary by jurisdiction. St. Louis and Cleveland each receive about $ 250,000, which covers the salaries of three staff members. On the contrary, Dallas receives almost $ 2 million, paying the salaries of 17 employees.
“Especially locally, you don't have many buffers with these funds,” said dr. Philip Huang, Director of Dallas County Health and Human Services in Texas.
If the funds disappear, even big cities like Dallas will be hindered during emergencies. “The smaller the health department, the greater the impact,” he said.
Dr. Davis said that his department receives less than 1 % of the budget of the city of St. Louis. If the Emergency Funds of the CDC public health are cut, as the budget, neither Missouri nor the city can now form the deficit, said.
“Those people would immediately lose their jobs,” said dr. Davis of employees financed by the grant.
In Alabama, emergencies preparation programs are funded entirely through federal subsidies. Tornado, hurricanes and ice in winter can all cause chaos, which requires the intervention of health officials.
“Unfortunately we have a lot of practice with those activities because they are not so unusual,” said dr. Scott Harris, state health officer of the Public Health Department of Alabama.
In many jurisdictions, officials have relying on hundreds of volunteers to help with vaccinations against Covid and Mpox. But they still needed paid staff to coordinate these activities and train the volunteers, said dr. Huang.
“You can't simply let me come and say everyone:” Yes, I am a doctor, “he said. The officials of the city control the volunteer credentials, they train them and mobilize them for emergencies if necessary.
In Cleveland, the health officials accused of preparation received on many occasions called in the middle of the night by hospitals with possible cases of anthrax or some other contagious threats.
“This is an invisible workforce because they are preparing for the worst scenarios – which often do not happen, fortunately,” said dr. David Margolius, director of Cleveland's public health. “But it is better to be prepared than being caught on plates.”
Some officials worried about the elections that the Trump administration may not renew the programs when they have finished. But they said they were not prepared to be cut the money abruptly, as other CDC financing flows were.
If the congress puts the cuts in place, “we should climb to understand a situation for them,” he said, referring to employees financed by the program. “It is completely unfair for these teams and for the residents of Cleveland who count on these services.”