At Friday’s Board of Health meeting, Lubbock’s public health director Katherine Wells dropped the cheery news that the CDC may slash its funding by half starting in October. Translation: kiss goodbye to federal support for stuff like HIV prevention, tuberculosis testing, immunizations, and syphilis elimination. (Because apparently that’s the line item we were overspending on.)
Wells explained that 70% of CDC dollars flow straight down to local departments like Lubbock’s, which runs vaccines, a sexual wellness clinic, and other not-exactly-luxury services. To make things spicier, she got an email saying her funding “disappeared overnight.” Imagine trying to run a department when the feds ghost you harder than a bad Tinder date.
It’s not just Washington’s chaos, either—the state health department, which itself is 60% federally funded, might stop providing free vaccines and lab services. Meaning Lubbock could end up footing bills it’s never had to worry about before. In the meantime, the Board of Health is left playing budgetary whack-a-mole with grants that may or may not exist next week.
Lubbock Public Health is supposed to manage syphilis, HIV, TB, and measles outbreaks—but sure, let’s cut their budget and see what happens. What could possibly go wrong?
https://www.everythinglubbock.com/news/local-news/lubbock-public-health-budget-concerns/
