By rssfeeds-admin Indiana is 43rd in access to mental health care and 41st in obesity.
Those deplorable healthcare standings may fall further next year.
Faced with a $2 billion budget deficit, the General Assembly mandated cutting public health spending in the state by more than 70% from $150 million this year to $40 million in 2026.
That’s money local public health departments depend on to reach out to the most vulnerable and underserved residents in their communities.
”We got $22.4 million this year,” said Marion County Public Health Director. Dr. Virginia Caine. “We will only be receiving $6 million from a drop of 22.4. That’s a huge drop.”
Monies from former Governor Eric Holcomb’s Health First Indiana initiative allowed MCPHD to pay competitive salaries for the nurses who see patients and screen for chronic diseases at community clinics and inspectors who determine if residents are living in unsafe conditions.
”I have to worry about smoking because it contributes to so many things whether its cancer. I don’t want my lung cancer rates to go up. I don’t want my colon rectal numbers to increase. I don’t want my breast cancer morbidity and mortality to get worse,” said Dr. Caine. ”You want to know that your water is safe so we test water streams. We want to make sure that there’s no chemicals from any industry being put in our streams where we may fish. Lead poisoning for our young children. Can we continue to do the necessary screening, make the remediations in housing if they’ve got lead paint walls in their facilities or, heaven forbid, they may have mold in their apartments.”
Caine said her department was responsible for $10 million in grants to community partners who can reach clients the county can’t.
One of those partners is the Damien Center serving Indianapolis’ LGBTQ+ community.
”The Marion County Health Department has been a great partner of ours,” said Alan Witchey, President and CEO of The Damien Center, which received $1.2 million from MCPHD this year. “They fund many of our programs, mostly through federal government pass-through grants, things like medical care, helping us to start our dental program, helping us with our harm reduction program, all things that really help with public health locally here.
”The actual services that Marion County Health Department will offer, they’ll have to reduce, and that means more people will come in our doors,” he said. ”There are going to be more uninsured people, there are going to be more people seeking services than there were last year and the year before, and all of those people, some of them are going to need to come here and get support.”
”The people who have a higher rate of poverty and may be less educated and possibly also English may not be their first native language,” added Caine.
MCPHD will step up its efforts to partner with other groups that may have access to grants to maintain community services.
Caine said one potential program already scrapped was her $2 million plan to address youth gun violence in Marion County.
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