Oregon county health officials say need is dire for stable public health funding post-pandemic

Many of Oregon's county health officials are asking for a little extra consideration from lawmakers this year as they decide where to allocate funding. Two counties, Wallowa and Curry, have no public health staff and rely solely on the Oregon Health Authority to meet their needs. With the fifth anniversary of the initial COVID-19 lockdown this week, perhaps nothing is a bigger reminder of the need for a stable funding source for public health infrastructure.

Sarah Lochner, the executive director of the Oregon Coalition of Local Health Officials, told OPB that not only is the state not ready for the next pandemic, counties are in dire need of stable funding just to deal with the everyday public health needs of the communities they serve — from vaccinating against whooping cough and measles, to providing needed treatment for alcohol and substance use disorder, to preventing HIV, hepatitis C, syphilis and other communicable diseases. 

Jackson county public health worker Tanya Phillips said because grants are often available only when the health of a particular population declines, the system sets up a kind of unreliable boom and bust cycle for funding, which does not support healthy communities long term. Phillips and Lochner join us to share the impact that unpredictable and insufficient funding is having in Jackson County and around the state.