Programs for newborns, people with HIV at risk of federal cuts, Nashville mayor warns
At his weekly media roundtable last week, Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell flagged a couple ways that $11 billion in potential cuts to public health funding through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services would impact Nashville.
Specifically, O'Connell pointed to two local programs — Nashville Strong Babies, which provides services to moms ranging from family planning services to prenatal and postpartum education free of charge, and the Ryan White program, which provides community-based care for low-income people living with HIV in Davidson County and a dozen other Middle Tennessee counties.
Here's what else O'Connell had to say about what those programs stand to lose.
If the cuts are allowed to proceed, O'Connell warned that they'll lead to direct impacts at the Metro Health Department, which facilitates both programs.
Services to 426 families through the Strong Babies program would be affected, and the health department could lose upwards of 20 jobs. That would affect more than 50% of the program's services, O'Connell said.
'When we're able to demonstrate the success of return on public investment, I'm just left wondering what sense it makes to cut funds to programs like that,' O'Connell said last week. 'Ultimately, the greatest potential impact would be that we return to an era when there are significant points of discrimination within prenatal and early childhood care that could be at risk.'
O'Connell said that could mean a return to higher infant mortality rates, especially in communities of color, and more mothers dying during pregnancy.
The Ryan White program, meanwhile, also is firmly in the crosshairs. O'Connell said the program could see $4 million in cuts.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued $4,658,066 in grants for the program to Nashville in the 2024 fiscal year — similar to Nashville's total awards from the two previous fiscal years — and another $857,721 since the start of 2025.
Austin Hornbostel is the Metro reporter for The Tennessean. Have a question about local government you want an answer to? Reach him at ahornbostel@tennessean.com.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville programs for newborns, HIV at risk of federal cuts
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