In the face of public health funding cuts on the state and local level, the outpouring of support from this community has been overwhelming. Thank you. Those of us working in public health have needed this encouragement and reinforcement as we watch vital programs get cut and await even further reductions. Unfortunately, despite all of our efforts, our public health department remains on the brink of crisis. The effects of county budget cuts are already taking a toll on our community and the state budget threatens to slash funding even further.
Our immunization clinics in Everett and Lynnwood have had to reduce hours from being open five days a week to now three days a week in Everett and just two days a week in Lynnwood. These clinics provide critical services to the community such as childhood immunizations, influenza treatment, travel vaccinations and travel counseling. The cutbacks reduce our capacity to provide these services and also make it much more difficult for the public to access them.
We’ve also had to reduce the number of public health nurses on staff, losing valuable expertise and experience. We worry that even if funding picks up when the economy recovers, we will have permanently lost these nurses to other jobs and will have to begin anew the process of recruiting and training nurses with the dedication and skills to work in public health. This is just one of the many ways that trying to rebuild public health in the future will cost much more than maintaining services today.
Across the state, local public health departments have already been reduced by a total of $32 million, resulting in the loss of more than 250 workers who provided critical public health services, including immunizations, family planning, the Women, Infants and Children nutrition program (WIC), and home visits to our most vulnerable women and children.
The governor’s budget already cut deep, but the proposed House budget will severely cripple efforts to protect the public’s health. State funding to local public health districts could be slashed in half. This would decimate the public health system and put every single person in this state at risk. It is dangerous and simply unacceptable.
If we keep cutting funding:
n Who will investigate the whooping cough outbreak in your child’s school?
n Who will provide immunizations and counseling for those who travel?
n Who will assist a parent with the health care of a baby born with birth defects?
n Who will educate and provide resources to a new mother feeling overwhelmed?
n Who will provide health consultations and training for early childhood care providers?
n Who will reduce the tuberculosis cases in our community?
n Who will make sure it’s safe to drink our water or eat out at restaurants?
Public health is the center of a quality health care system and is the most cost effective system for disease prevention and health improvement. It is also our first line of defense in responding to a communicable disease outbreak, bioterrorism and in disaster preparedness.
As more and more families and individuals are pushed to the financial edge, they will turn to public health for necessary and life-saving health services. Now, more than ever, we must strengthen the safety net so that people have access to these services and are not forced to wait until their health is in serious jeopardy and the cost of care increases exponentially.
If these cuts are made, clinics and crowded hospital emergency rooms will face ever-increasing challenges in order to meet the additional needs of the community. The dissolution of public health funding and services will lead to higher human services caseloads, poorer health outcomes, a decrease in quality of life, and higher health care costs for all as the system gets overloaded.
We must act now to save public health.
This community has already shown so much support, but we urge everybody to make one final push before this Legislative Session ends. Visit www.SavePublicHealth.com to tell your elected officials that we cannot afford any more cuts to public health.
Barbara J. Bly, RN, of Everett is chair of the Washington State Nurses Association unit that represents Snohomish County public health nurses. She has worked as a public health nurse for 30 years.
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