Arkansas Department of Health announces layoffs due to loss of COVID-era grants
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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Officials with the Arkansas Department of Health said that multiple lay-offs are happening due to the discontinuation of COVID-era grants.
According to a spokesperson for the ADH, 15 positions that were funded by those grants are now being eliminated.
ADH officials said that employees began being notified of the layoffs on Friday.
“Due to the discontinuation of covid-era grants, the Arkansas Department of Health will be eliminating 15 positions that were funded by those grants,” the spokesperson said. “Notifications to affected employees began today.”
The layoffs come after the United States Department of Health and Human Services announced this week that it was canceling billions of dollars in federal grants that state and local health departments were using to track infectious diseases, health disparities, vaccinations, mental health services, and other health issues.
HHS officials said the grants, totaling $11.4 billion, were primarily used for COVID-19 response, including testing, vaccination and for hiring community health workers responding to COVID.
“The COVID-19 pandemic is over, and HHS will no longer waste billions of taxpayer dollars responding to a non-existent pandemic that Americans moved on from years ago. HHS is prioritizing funding projects that will deliver on President Trump’s mandate to address our chronic disease epidemic and Make America Healthy Again,” HHS said in a statement.
The ADH spokesperson said that they are making sure each employee understands benefits available including being eligible to apply for other jobs throughout state government.
“We are making sure each employee understands the benefits that are available to them, and they will be eligible for special employee consideration for open positions throughout state government. We will also be offering severance packages as outlined in the Office of Personnel Management policy,” the spokesperson said.
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