Fairfield Co. Health Dept. Faces Cuts

FAIRFIELD COUNTY, Ohio—More cuts are coming to a local health department.

Fairfield County will see its budget slashed from $4.2 million to $2.8 million. Without grants, officials said major cuts are on the way.

Patrons, such as Susie Russell, are alarmed to hear cuts are on the horizon come January 2010.

“The health department it is invaluable. It has helped my daughter in so many ways,“ Russell said.

Fairfield County Health Commissioner Frank Hirsch said during his many years in public health, it’s never been this bad.

“We’ve had not only funding and reduction in grants from the state and federal level. But also the economy has really hurt health departments, too,“ Hirsch said.

Hirsch said his department approached the county budget commission last Monday.

They were seeking $100,000 to their allocation of monies received from villages and towns within Fairfield County.

But that request was denied because the health department’s allocation was set back in April.

“We had to make a budget based on that back in 2008. And we didn’t see any of this coming,“ remembers Hirsch.

So what’s at stake? Among other cuts, 14 health-department workers could lose their jobs, the family planning clinic will close and immunization clinics will be fewer in number. It is a sad state of affairs many public-health centers are facing nationwide.