CDHD outlines local services, despite severe funding cuts

The Central District Health Department announced plans last week to adapt and increase its public health services if possible in the coming year despite significant cuts in state and federal funding.
Teresa Anderson, health director of the Grand Island-based agency which serves Hamilton, Hall and Merrick counties, addressed the Aurora City Council at its June 24 meeting while requesting $7,000 from the city for the fiscal year. The council approved the request, which was for the same amount as last year.
“I want to give you an overview of the last year and why your support is so essential,” Anderson said as she began her 20-minute presentation. “Everything we do is about prevention and prevention is hard to measure. We say that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure and in dollars that does make a difference.”
Anderson reported that federal cuts in the Vaccine for Children, Epidemiology Laboratory Capacity (ELC) and immunization program funding are expected to amount to approximately $30 per person that the CDHC is currently serving. In addition, she said the Nebraska Legislature reduced funding by $180,000 this year, taking it back to a pre-COVID level.
“We have suffered some significant cuts, so we have been working very hard to diversify, if you will, the funding streams that we have,” she informed the council. “I will tell you that is going really well.”
For example, Anderson reported on the Helping Families America program, which currently serves two families in Aurora.
“This is for families who are expecting a child or have a three-month-old,” she explained. “We keep them on board for about two years and just kind of coach and mentor them in their homes. Our community health workers understand some of the struggles that are in the family space.”
The Women and Infant Children (WIC) program will continue, Anderson stated, adding that the CDHD office has been asked by state officials to take over the clinics in both Aurora and Central City. 
“Starting in October, we’ll be coming over to do the WIC program here, which I think is in the Methodist church,” she said. “We have between 30 and 50 families that we’re serving now.”
CDHD also offers a Minority Health Initiative, which requites that 5 percent of the population be considered minority.
“This year, according to the Census, Hamilton County has that 5 percent,” she said, “so we’ll be able to do some of the work that we’ve been doing with that program, which is basically promoting health behaviors and healthy lifestyles and how we look at indigenous services that they need.”

HUD grant
One of the bigger federal grant programs CDHD is involved with involves lead abatement, for which the Grand Island-based entity received a $1 million grant over three years.
“We will facilitate the process and make sure that everything goes according to what HUD recommendations are,” she explained. “Part of this is to train a lead specialist, so we have the funding to increase our community capacity to address the lead issues that we have. In all three of our counties there are little segments where many of the houses still have lead, even though after 1978 we weren’t using it anymore. Elevated lead levels can lead to stunted growth and a reduction in mental capacity over time, so we want to prevent that as much as we can.”
Another new program available through CDHD this year is the Ryan White Program, which offers HIV testing at the local library and annual Pride celebration.
“We’ve been really grateful that the library here in town has allowed us to come and do some testing there so the program will continue,” she said. “If we find someone is HIV positive then we can case manage them and give the treatments that they need. It’s such a different world now that it was 20 or 30 years ago and if we can get the treatment early enough people can go on to live long, healthy lives.”
Anderson reported that the CDHD staff has been working with nursing homes, hospitals and health clinics in the three counties to help them better understand what they can do to keep infection from spreading.
“We’re not talking just COVID or flu,” she explained. “We’re talking things like gastrointestinal infections that sometimes get into a facility and just run through the facility. We’ve been doing a lot of training of staff, training for both infection prevention and also injection safety.”
Also mentioned in her report was a new Purple Air monitor at the Edgerton Explorit Center, which is part of a new clean air surveillance program, as well as a Nebraska Children’s Family Foundation grant that allows CDHD to make a one-time payment to help families that may be down on their luck to get out of a financial jam.
“Those are all programs that we’ve been really diligent in seeking out, knowing that we were probably going to see these funding cuts,” she said. “At this point, we’ve not had to lay off anyone or terminate any positions, but I have to tell you that across the state most of the health departments have had to eliminate two or three positions based on funding cuts.”
Anderson went on to say that her office is working on establishing a 501(c)3 to simplify process of attaining grants and other sources of funding not available to government entities.
“While I started out staying that the funding is dismal right now, on the back side is a platform that I have which is our current Community Improvement Plan,” she said. These are areas where CDHC is working to address issues such as access to quality child care, health care, behavioral health, housing and transportation.
“I know in public health you don’t expect that we can move mountains in transportation or in housing, but we can be part of their strategy,” she concluded.