歪歪漫画

ROCHESTER 鈥� The Minnesota Department of Health is laying off 170 employees after the federal government pulled $226 million of funding from the state health agency.

In a press release Tuesday, April 1, MDH called the layoffs "a direct consequence of the unprecedented and unexpected action by the federal government."

"It is devastating to be forced to reduce critical services and give notices to so many dedicated public health professionals because the federal government decided to renege on its commitment to our state," said MDH Commissioner Dr. Brooke Cunningham. "They left us in the lurch, with no advance notice, no close-out period, halting work that would have helped us address chronic gaps in the system and be better prepared for future threats."

The 170 impacted employees represent 10% of MDH's workforce, said spokesperson Andrea Ahneman.

The agency also sent "at risk" notices to 300 employees "at risk for layoffs due to seniority rules around layoffs." Additionally, around 20 would-be employees had their job offers rescinded.

MDH will immediately suspend its partner-led vaccine clinics, emergency preparedness activities and the INSPIRE Program for middle and high school students.

The job cuts will reduce or slow other services, MDH said, including wastewater surveillance, lab work at Minnesota's Public Health Laboratory, Tribal Public Health funding and the state's response to infectious diseases like measles and H5N1.

"We are working now to figure out how much of this critical public health work we can save and continue," Cunningham said.

Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention terminated $11 billion in COVID-19-related funding that had been distributed to state and local health departments across the country, including MDH.