By Daniel Montaño, KUNM
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced Thursday 20,000 job cuts, about a quarter of its workforce, and the withdrawal of $12 billion in grants. It’s all part of efforts by Elon Musk’s DOGE group and the Trump Administration to slash federal spending. That’s left state departments of health, and both private and public agencies across the country — and here in New Mexico — reeling.
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The New Mexico Department of Health told KUNM about $60 million in federal grant funding has been lost along with about 37 employees.
NMDOH spokesperson Robert Nott said all of the lost positions were contract and temporary workers, and the department has been able to use state and other federal funds to cover the remainder of its staff.
He said the loss of funds has led to the cancellation of “some contracts,” and that the department is still analyzing the potential impact of the losses, but that it does not anticipate any interruptions to normal services.
“I think it’s fair to say our goal is to keep continuing to provide necessary public health services for New Mexicans,” he said, “and we’re really confident that we’re going to be able to do that despite this challenge”
The cuts come during the ongoing measles outbreak, which has slowed down in New Mexico, but is spreading elsewhere. Only one new case was reported in the last week here, bringing New Mexico’s total case count to 44. But Nott said the department still has fighting the outbreak as one of its top priorities.
“Nothing will impede our efforts to deal with the measles outbreak,” he said.
The DOH has given out more than 14,000 Measles, Mumps and Rubella vaccinations since February 1, Nott said. More than 7,600 of those were to children 18 and under.
Support for this coverage comes from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation
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