Federal health program cuts could impact virus outbreak response in NYC
NEW YORK (PIX11) — New York's response to virus outbreaks could look different after the federal government cut funding to the state's Department of Health, according to Governor Kathy Hochul.
New York's health department is expected to lose more than $300 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Hochul announced on Friday.
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The governor warned that the cuts could impact programs that handle public health functioning, addiction treatment and prevention services, as well as state-run mental health services.
Federal funding helped support public health responses to viruses through surveillance, outbreak response, electronic data exchange, and maintaining public dashboards. Funding also helped support infection prevention programs in hospitals and nursing homes as well as laboratory reporting.
More: Latest News from Around the Tri-State
Losing help from the federal government will also likely shutter the COVID-19 Health Disparities Grant, which contributed to funding 135 subcontractors who addressed disparities in mental health, maternal and infant health, and food security.
'Here's the sad truth: there is no State in the nation that has the resources to backfill these sweeping cuts. It's up to New York's elected officials who serve in the House majority to stand up and fight back,' said Hochul.
The move by the federal government comes as measles cases are jumping nationwide and infectious disease experts are working to identify possible measles exposure from an Amtrack passenger.
Dominique Jack is a digital content producer from Brooklyn with more than five years of experience covering news. She joined PIX11 in 2024. More of her work can be found here.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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