Austin Public Health is losing millions in funding and 27 full-time employees due to cuts at the federal level, the agency's director said.
Five of Austin Public Health's grants have been eliminated so far, resulting in the loss of an estimated $15 million over time. That money paid for APH’s Refugee Services Clinic, COVID vaccination program and diabetes care program, among other services.
APH did not specify the funding agency for all of the lost grants. The Department of Government Efficiency has made cuts at a number of federal and state health organizations. Last week, it announced it would terminate hundreds of millions of dollars in grants to the Texas Department of State Health Services, including some COVID-era funding that was distributed to local health departments.
At an Austin City Council public health committee meeting Wednesday, APH Director Adrienne Sturrup described learning about the cancellation of funds that filter through the Texas Department of State Health Services, one grant at a time, across recent weeks.
"I've called it death by a thousand cuts," she said.
Sturrup expressed concern about more cuts that could be coming.
“There is no federal windfall that’s going to come through to support our efforts,” she said. “It will really be, unfortunately, us taking a hard look at what are the things that we just can't support, and where we're going to have to turn to the community for help.”
Sturrup said APH is working with Austin City Manager TC Broadnax to find open positions in other city departments for the affected employees. But APH representatives said they anticipate an additional 28 full-time employees could lose their jobs.
APH’s 2025 fiscal year budget included around $39.4 million in grants — around 30% of its total budget. Grants pay for about half of full-time positions at the agency.
Some of the lost dollars were associated with COVID-era grants, but Sturrup said that funding helped the department to respond to other threats including mpox and measles.
“Public health nationally has historically been underfunded. The additional dollars that came through from the pandemic not only gave us the opportunity to scale up to respond to the community's needs, but in some ways to right-size,” she said. “That is one of the reasons why the state health department allowed locals to continue to use those funding dollars after the pandemic ended.”
Sturrup said APH is working with City Council to extend certain affected programs with local funding — but some may shut down entirely. One program in limbo is a clinic that provides vaccinations and medical support to refugees and asylum seekers.
“We will be able to float that program for a little bit longer," Sturrup said.
But there are no guarantees about the program's future. Sturrup said similar programs from agencies in other jurisdictions have had to shut down.
"They can't afford to take the risk to continue to provide services with the uncertainty of reimbursement,” she said.
