VtPHA News..

At Risk: Essential Public Health Services for Vermonters

The dramatic deterioration of state fiscal conditions is having an adverse effect on basic public health functions. At this time, when Vermont is facing a severe economic downturn many state services are a critical safety net that are needed to protect the public. One year ago the Douglas administration announced its plan to shrink state government by 400 positions. However, many state positions particularly at the Department of Health rely primarily on federal dollars, which are being frozen even though it does not save Vermont any money. In fact, in some cases, federal funds are lost when Vermont cannot hire staff to run the programs.

State officials erased 150 positions from the state rolls on June 30, 2008. The remaining 250 will disappear by Dec. 31 and more layoffs are more than likely. Therefore, we are losing federal funding, and eroding our public health infrastructure , without helping our budget problems here in Vermont. No public health higher education programs are offered in the state and recruiting public health professionals is always challenging. To unravel the existing public health infrastructure is bad policy because of the long delays which occur when trying to recruit public health professionals, who are usually trained outside Vermont.

Public health as a whole receives little fanfare because it prevents, rather than treats, existing disease and disability. To weaken it now is only going to add to Vermont's future challenges, both health and economic. Public Health services prevent epidemics and protect against environmental hazards, prevent injuries, promote healthy behaviors, respond to disasters and assure the quality and accessibility of health services. They are also essential to protecting the health and well-being of the most vulnerable children, pregnant women and elders. This is a big job that requires an Agency of Human Services and a Health Department that has the capacity to meet these demands. Vermont prides itself on being among the healthiest states in the country – yet we are facing budget cuts that will greatly impact the well-being of all Vermonters. This means a well-trained and expert workforce is essential. The Vermont Public Health Association asks the administration and the legislature to not let our public health infrastructure erode. We ask that the positions that support largely federally-funded programs be filled and that the work of public health be allowed to continue without disruption.

VtPHA

---

Return to The News Menu