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Dear Community:
We know this is such a difficult time—and we feel it with you. The weight of federal actions is showing up in our bodies and our spirits. We are holding this pain, together.
Below is a letter that shares updates regarding recent impacts to public health services, including the Community Collaborative. Despite losing the support of our contract partner, Kauffman and Associates Inc. (KAI), we will continue to push forward and plan to have our scheduled Community Collaborative meeting on Wednesday April 9, 2025 at 3:30 p.m. to talk with DOH leadership about the ongoing changes and to hear updates from Health Care Authority about potential impacts to Medicaid.
We will cancel our May meeting and currently plan to meet again June 11, 2025.
More information -- and a new Zoom link -- for the April and June meetings will follow.
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Impact to Public Health Services |
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We are writing to inform you of a significant development that will impact public health services across Washington State. On March 24, 2025, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued immediate notices terminating multiple pandemic-related grants, including those funded under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and the OT21-2103 COVID-19 Health Disparities Grant, the funding source for community engagement efforts led by the Center for Community Relations and Equity, Community Investments and Engagement Branch. This sudden action has resulted in the abrupt cessation of at least $130 million in critical public health funding. Multiple contracts with Community-Based and Urban Indian Serving Organizations under the Community-Driven Outreach and Urban Indian Initiatives, as well as the Community Collaborative were suspended. If your organization was impacted, you would have received a contract suspension notice on March 26, 2025.
The termination of these grants combined with the ongoing budget crisis in Washington State will have far-reaching consequences for our collective public health infrastructure as well as staffing at WA-DOH. Programs that have been critically important during and after the COVID-19 pandemic—including epidemiology and laboratory capacity, immunization efforts, Care Connect Washington, and health disparities initiatives are experiencing immediate and significant disruption. (Yesterday the Seattle Times reported on some of the impacts in this article.) Historically, we have passed approximately 75% of these funds through to local health jurisdictions, Tribal organizations, and community partners, meaning the impact will be deeply felt across our entire public health ecosystem.
WA-DOH is currently assessing the full implications of these funding cuts. We recognize the uncertainty this creates for our partners and are committed to maintaining transparency throughout this challenging transition. Our leadership is working diligently to minimize disruptions to essential health services.
WA-DOH capabilities in community investments and engagement, disease monitoring, reporting, vaccine outreach, workforce, and community health coordination are reduced. We understand these cuts create significant challenges for our partners who have been crucial in delivering public health services to communities across Washington.
Your continued partnership remains critical. We will provide updates as more information becomes available.
The Workforce Pathways Program has received at-risk notices regarding potential funding impacts on the COVID-19 Public Health Workforce Development but has not been terminated to date. The Workforce Pathways Program will provide updates to impacted community contractors on funding developments and their implications as more information becomes available.
We appreciate your patience, understanding, and continued commitment to public health as we navigate these difficult circumstances.
If you have immediate questions or concerns, please contact Frances Limtiaco, Community Investments and Engagement Branch Manager, at frances.limtiaco@doh.wa.gov, or 564-999-1754.
Frances Limtiaco, on behalf of
Center for Community Relations and Equity Leadership
Washington State Department of Health Leadership
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NOTE: We are working to find balance in the benefits and costs associated with translation. If you would like to share this or any part of this newsletter in another language, please email Community.Collaborative@doh.wa.gov and we will work with you to translate into the language(s) needed.
Estamos trabajando para encontrar un equilibrio entre los beneficios y costos asociados con la traducción. Si desea compartir esto o alguna parte de estos materiales en Español, por favor envíe un correo electrónico a Community.Collaborative@doh.wa.gov y trabajaremos con juntos con usted para traducir.
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