LHD Budget Cuts and Job Losses

NACCHO has completed the third in a series of surveys measuring the impact of the economic recession on local health departments (LHDs). The surveys found that between January 2008 and December 2009, LHDs lost 23,000 jobs to layoffs and attrition, roughly 15 percent of the entire LHD workforce. In 2009, an additional 25,000 LHD employees were subjected to reduced hours or mandatory furloughs. More than half of LHDs had to make cuts during 2009 to important programs such as population-based primary prevention, maternal and child health, and environmental health. Findings from this survey are being shared with government agencies, Members of Congress and the press.