NCDHHS says this will impact immunization efforts, infectious disease monitoring, behavioral health and substance abuse services.
RALEIGH, N.C. — The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services will eliminate 80 jobs and lose $100 million in federal funding.
In a statement, a department spokesperson confirmed the cuts stem from an “abrupt and immediate termination of several federal grants,” which they say will dramatically impact multiple essential health services. Though the cuts targeted COVID-19 funding, they will directly affect key areas including:
- Immunization efforts and the new NC Immunization Registry
- Infectious disease monitoring and response capabilities
- Behavioral health services
- Substance use disorder treatment programs
WCNC Charlotte spoke with interim State Health Director and DHHS Chief Medical Officer Dr. Kelly Kimple after the announcement.
“This is funding that was opened up with COVID-19 and really was utilized to, at the time, respond to the pandemic when we and critical needs there, but it also highlighted a lot of gaps in our public health infrastructure,” Kimple said. “The use of the funds are much broader than COVID-19 and definitely is impacting our public health system and our health system as a whole.”
The department says some of the cuts will directly affect local health departments, universities, hospitals and social service departments. They are notifying impacted vendors to pause grant-supported work. Kimple says NCDHHS is ready to support North Carolinians and mitigate the impacts.
“I think people are right to be concerned about continued access to services and really just ensuring we have the systems in place to work for North Carolinians,” Kimple said. “The significant amount of funding is far-reaching and something that I think is going to have a real impact on North Carolinians.”
She added the timing of cutting immunization funding is particularly challenging, as the country deals with outbreaks of measles and avian influenza.
This comes amidst a string of health care-focused cuts, federally and locally. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced Thursday it plans to cut 10,000 jobs across several agencies. This could impact any of the 13 agencies HHS manages, including the CDC, the FDA and the National Institutes of Health.
Nick Riggs, director of the North Carolina Navigator Consortium that helps connect people with the appropriate health care coverage, says their funding has already been slashed by 90%.
“If people can’t access us or the state, they often have nowhere to go,” Riggs said. “There are long wait times, and sometimes we simply can’t help.”
Additional cuts loom on the horizon. Congress is considering a budget that could significantly reduce Medicaid funding. NC Medicaid Secretary Jay Ludlam has warned this could impact 640,000 North Carolinians.
North Carolina expanded Medicaid in 2023 to cover individuals earning up to 138% of the poverty level. However, this hinges on the federal government paying at least 90% of the cost. If this goes away, those added under the expansion would no longer be eligible.
“Anytime we’re talking about any reduction, that just means a reduction in services,” Riggs said. “The ripple effect is huge.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson aims to pass a budget before the Easter recess, giving lawmakers approximately three weeks to make critical decisions about Medicaid funding.
Contact Julie Kay at juliekay@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
