The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department hasn’t been immune to federal budget cuts, while federal-level layoffs also have left data collection in at least one program at risk.
In response to questions, TPCHD media representative Kenny Via told The News Tribune that two local health department programs took the initial hit of funding losses: one tied to COVID-19 response and the other with wildfires.
“Washington State Department of Health informed us last week that Centers for Disease Control and Prevention eliminated a large portion of state COVID-19 response funding,” Via said in an emailed statement. “We had been using a portion of these funds to continue some education and vaccination efforts.”…