Laid-off Minnesota Health Dept. workers warn of public health consequences

Lydia Fess gets the math. The epidemiologist said she understands why the Minnesota Department of Health was forced to make cuts when it lost more than $220 million in federal grants.

She just doesn’t understand why she and other public health employees like her got the ax, when only a fragment of their salaries were covered by the grants and the workers are well-trained in the fight to prevent infectious diseases.

“I’m worried about a massive exodus of expertise that has been years-to-decades in the making,” Fess said. “You can’t just build that back.”

Public health workers raised many such questions Thursday when they took to the streets in protest of the Health Department’s roughly 170 layoffs, and urged the department to reconsider cuts in key areas that could weaken Minnesota’s response to foodborne and infectious disease outbreaks.

The department, for now, is proceeding with the layoffs, even though a federal judge has issued a temporary injunction against the Trump administration’s cuts.

“Reconsidering extensive jobs cuts can only happen if we prevail legally,” the Health Department said in a statement Thursday. “Given that the current order is temporary, it makes it difficult to fully know what will be available long-term.”

The department added that state leaders “understand and share” workers’ frustrations.

The Minnesota Association of Professional Employees, which represents some of the laid-off workers, organized the demonstration.

A spokesperson said the union is still waiting for an accurate list of the layoffs from the department, which has given some senior employees the opportunity to take other jobs and bump junior workers.

Health Department leaders faced tough decisions in response to the funding loss because many workers are only partly funded by the COVID grants, making it difficult to decide who would lose their jobs.

Fess said the COVID grant that paid some of her salary was going to end in just over a year.

“We had plans for how people would be off-boarded from that source onto another source of funding so the work could continue,” said Fess, whose work included monitoring and public education about ways to prevent influenza, rabies, measles, HIV and other infectious diseases.

Some workers who provide and promote immunizations aren’t funded at all by these federal grants, yet they still received layoff notices.

“These funds support entire bodies of work in the agency,” the department said in its statement. “Therefore, the layoffs affect people who are directly and indirectly connected.”

The Trump administration cut $11 billion in public health grants nationwide late last month, arguing the funding was no longer necessary because it was designated to confront COVID-19 and the infectious disease is no longer considered a national emergency.

But state leaders said the grants were only COVID in name and covered many programs to prevent further outbreaks and improve public health.

About 100 workers on Thursday chanted “public health is a right, that’s why we have to fight!” as they walked in front of St. Paul’s Centennial Office Building, where they hoped lawmakers and budget officials were listening. They also hoped to sway the public by showing the tie between their jobs and public health benefits.

“You can’t downsize disease,” one picket sign read.

“Ever heard of Leptospirosis?” asked another, in reference to a severe bacterial disease that primarily spreads through contact with animal urine. “No? You’re welcome.”