NCDHHS cutting 80 jobs, losing $100 million in federal grant funding

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) is looking at the elimination more than 80 jobs and will miss out on more than $100 million in funding due to the recent termination of several federal grants.

A spokesperson said in an emailed statement to Carolina Journal Thursday that the $100 million in funding ‘directly contributes to the health, safety, and wellbeing of the people we serve.’

They said the federal grant funding impacts a number of areas of work including immunization efforts, funding for the new NC Immunization Registry, infectious disease monitoring and response, behavioral health, substance use disorder services, and more.  Some of the impacted funding supports work that is completed by local health departments, universities, hospitals and local departments of social services.

NCDHHS is advising impacted vendors to pause work supported by the funds until they learn more from the federal government.

The announcement came on the same day that the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced sweeping changes under President Donald Trump’s Executive Order, “Implementing the President’s ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ Workforce Optimization Initiative.”

The dramatic restructuring, including reducing about 10,000 full-time employees and offering early retirement packages to others, will result in a total downsizing from 82,000 to 62,000 full-time employees, netting taxpayers a savings of $1.8 billion a year.

Also, 28 divisions of HHS will be consolidated into 15 new divisions, including a new Administration for a Healthy America, or AHA, and will centralize core functions such as human resources, information technology, procurement, external affairs, and policy. Regional offices will also be reduced in number from 10 to 5.

An HHS press release said the overhaul would implement the department’s new priority of battling chronic illness in America by focusing on safe, wholesome food, clean water, and eliminating environmental toxins.

The restructuring will also improve Americans’ experience with HHS by making the agency more responsive and efficient while ensuring that Medicare, Medicaid, and other essential health services remain intact.

“We aren’t just reducing bureaucratic sprawl; we are realigning the organization with its core mission and our new priorities in reversing the chronic disease epidemic,” HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. said. “This Department will do more, a lot more, at a lower cost to the taxpayer.”

Part of the restructuring plan includes the creation of the Administration for a Healthy America (AHA), which will combine multiple agencies, including the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), and National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), into one.

Also, the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR), which is responsible for national disaster and public health emergency response, will transfer to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Another change HHS announced earlier this week was that the department was rescinding $11.4 billion in COVID-19-related funds for state and local public health departments and other health organizations throughout the country as they said the COVID-19 pandemic is over, and their agency will no longer waste billions of taxpayer dollars on a non-existent pandemic.

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