News
Georgia Public Health Association Executive Director Pleads for End to Public Health Budget Cuts
August 24, 2010 - The following letter was sent from Bob Stolarick, DDS, MBA, Executive Director of the Georgia Public Health Association to Clyde Reese, III, Esq., Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Community Health, in an effort to thwart further budget cuts that would negatively impact Public Health services in the state of Georgia:
Dear Commissioner:
Public health in Georgia is in a state of crisis.
This crisis began building long before the current recession led to across-the-board budget reductions. While a part of the Department of Human Resources, public health programs and staff were decimated year after year. Recognizing the rapid dismantling of the Division, the Governor and legislature responded with the reorganization bill that brought Public Health to DCH a year ago.
It was a welcomed move, and DCH staff did a tremendous job of facilitating the transition and creating a new home for the division. However, with much damage already done, it is now imperative to reverse counterproductive slashes to budgets, staff and programs. Today, Public Health has 1,000 vacancies out of 7,500 budgeted positions, and that doesn't include those positions completely eliminated during a nearly decade-long culling.
But this crisis isn't just about people's jobs; it's about Georgia's health. As chronicled by United Health Foundation's "America's Health Rankings," Georgia has dropped in the category of health determinants, embarrassingly, from 34th in 1999 to 47th in 2009. As health determinants surely precede health outcomes, the continued deterioration of our public health system is arguably taking a toll on everything from the ability of our children to learn in school to the overall vitality of our state's economy. What corporate concern wants to locate in a state offering among the least-healthy workforces? Sick employees miss more work days and thus contribute less to the state in the way of income and sales taxes.
Furthermore, uninspected restaurants pose grave dangers for our citizens, while unfilled environmental positions leave to their own devices for safety the state's public pools and private septic tanks. In some health districts family planning appointments must be scheduled months into the future, yet having another child within two years of the last one is a major contributor to low birth-weight babies. The average cost of a low birth-weight baby to Medicaid? More than $50,000.
And it's not only routine programs that have been left wanting. In 2006, a special House Study Committee, chaired by Rep. Donna Sheldon, reached the startling conclusion that, during a "significant medical emergency," the shortage of public health nurses in Georgia will:
"... lead to mass disruption, unavailability and degradation of care,
perhaps leading to panic or civil unrest. In the event of a pandemic,
the medical system in Georgia will collapse due to unprecedented
volume without improvement to existing public health infrastructure."
Have things improved four years later? No, they've gotten worse. In a decade during which the state's population grew by 20 percent, Georgia cut per capita public health spending by 21 percent.
As the Department and the Board finalize budget recommendations for the FY 2012 budget, the Georgia Public Health Association (GPHA) asks that you keep in mind the critical role that public health plays in ensuring the public's health and safety, including emergency preparedness.
Specifically:
• Return funding for General Grant-in-Aid to counties to prior years' levels.
• Restore funding for the Stroke and Heart Attack Prevention Program (SHAPP).
• Restore funding for some of the more critical positions now vacant.
• Ensure funding for adequate emergency preparedness and response.
In addition, please avoid any further cuts which will hamper the ability of local public health agencies to deliver the legislatively-mandated services they are required to provide.
Thank you for your hard work on this and other important issues. Your commitment to public service and that of the entire Board is deeply appreciated. Please let me know whenever you believe the GPHA may be of assistance to you.