State Budget Woes Mean Massive Public Health Job Losses

ARLINGTON, Va., Dec. 15, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- State health agency employees are at the forefront of public health, safeguarding the public in times of natural or manmade disaster, promoting policy and practices that lead to a healthier population, and delivering the vital programs and services that are the core of an effective public health system. Since 2008, however, 16,830 of these jobs have been lost as the fiscal hardships faced by states threatens to undermine the investments they have made to improve the health and well being of their populations.

The Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) has been studying this trend since 2008 through biannual budget surveys of its members, the leaders of each of the 59 health agencies in states, territories, and freely associated states. ASTHO just released the December 2011 update. Since 2008, 55 health agencies have responded to the survey.

Fifty of these health agencies report that they have experienced job losses; 51 have let jobs go unfilled after staff leave, and 32 have laid off employees. In addition, health agencies have imposed furloughs of 230,754 days in the last two years—that's equivalent to more than 1,000 full-time jobs.

"State health agencies have always been effective at taking limited resources and using them to generate improved health outcomes for the populations they serve. However, with public funds shrinking at both federal and state levels, their leaders are forced into gut-wrenching decisions about which programs to shrink and which ones to eliminate," said ASTHO Executive Director Paul Jarris, MD. "The investments we've made in public health in the last decade have made us a healthier society and saved us money in the long run. We must make public health funding a priority, or we risk undermining the tremendous progress we have made."

As a result of these budget cuts and lost positions, 51 health agencies report that they have had to reduce services and 33 have had to cut entire programs. A few examples of the types of programs that have been affected include: mobile clinics providing primary care services to rural areas, testing capacity in environmental labs for drinking water, and supporting school health programs and nursing services.

ASTHO urges state and federal funding authorities to see the important role state health agencies play in public health, where investment not only employs hard-working, mission-driven people, it builds safe, thriving, healthy communities.

ASTHO is the national nonprofit organization representing the public health agencies of the United States, the U.S. Territories, and the District of Columbia, as well as the 120,000 public health professionals these agencies employ. ASTHO members, the chief health officials of these jurisdictions, are dedicated to formulating and influencing sound public health policy and to assuring excellence in state-based public health practice. 

SOURCE Association of State and Territorial Health Officials