CHICAGO The Chicago Department of Public Health is facing hundreds of vacancies and a loss of COVID-19-related grants, but the mayor’s proposed 2024 budget sets the stage for expanding the department’s mental health services.
The agency has 493 vacancies across all departments, representing about 42 percent of its positions, Acting Commissioner Fikirte Wagaw told aldermen during the department’s budget hearing Thursday.
At the same time, its overall budget for next year stands at $888 million, down almost 10% from last year. The city is investing an additional $6.5 million in the department through state and local taxes, but the health budget will continue to shrink by $96 million as COVID-related grants dry up.
Aldermen questioned Wagaw about the department’s plans to fill those vacancies and reduce its reliance on grants during the hours-long hearing, where she also shared details about the proposed expansion of its mental health services and other departmental priorities.
Wagaw didn’t have answers to many questions, but she promised to follow up with Ald. Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez (33rd), who chairs the city council’s health and human relations committee.
Wagaw was appointed to the position after Mayor Brandon Johnson fired former Commissioner Allison Arwady in August. She previously worked as the ministry’s first deputy commissioner.
Filling vacancies within the Department of Public Health is “a long-standing problem,” Wagaw said. Even before the pandemic, the department had between 150 and 200 vacant positions, she said.
The department has sought to boost recruiting by promoting its open positions to current employees and within their professional networks, Wagaw said. Clinicians were also asked to film social media videos talking about their work and why they love it to attract new applicants.
For harder-to-fill positions, the Health Department has left them open for longer periods, giving people more opportunities to apply, Wagaw said.
“We are on track to hire the most people we have ever hired in a year,” Wagaw said. “At the beginning of October, we made 126 hires and we will certainly hire more. »
Block Club’s Quinn Myers explains how Mayor Johnson’s proposed budget is funded:
Wagaw also addressed the loss of grant funding as pandemic-era money from the federal government dries up, saying it is common for most of a health department’s funding to come from subsidies.
In Johnson’s proposed budget, 89 percent of the department’s funding comes from grants, which made up 91 percent of last year’s budget.
“Most health services at the local and state level are primarily funded by grants, which is not a good model,” Wagaw said. “I don’t know the answer going forward, but we’re certainly committed to working with this agency, the mayor’s office and other partners to think about how we fund public health.”
Arwady warned last year that much of the federal pandemic emergency funds would expire during 2023-2024, creating a long-term funding dilemma.
The flow of hundreds of millions of dollars in federal grants has allowed the public health department to increase its staffing by about 50 percent and develop infrastructure to support public health initiatives, Arwady told Crains last year. last. Without funding, these resources could be at risk.
Arwady declined an interview with Block Club.
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These challenges come as the Department of Public Health will be tasked with launching Johnson’s Treatment Not Trauma order, which aims to create a network of professionals to respond to mental health emergencies without armed police officers and ultimately reopen 14 health clinics mentality of the city.
Johnson’s proposed public health department budget allocates $4.8 million to expand its mental health services by opening two additional mental health clinics in addition to the city’s existing ones. The budget proposes adding 21 mental health workers for a total of 53, including psychiatric nurse practitioners, clinical therapists and case managers.
Aldermen also asked about the public health department’s role in responding to the migrant crisis, which Wagaw said involves coordination with the Cook County Health Department, local hospitals and health centers qualified federal.
Wagaw also explained how the department will continue to work to solve Chicago’s opioid crisis.
Chicago will receive $16 million from opioid settlements, which the department will use to increase distribution of life-saving Narcan kits, which are already distributed to public libraries, Wagaw said.
Ald. Jason Ervin (28th), who chairs the Budget and Government Operations Committee, said he supports the funding, noting that more Chicagoans die from opioid overdoses than from homicides.
“We need to do more in this area,” Ervin said.
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