Oregon Health Authority: Termination of $117 million in COVID-area federal grants will have immediate impacts

PORTLAND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, has abruptly terminated roughly $117 million in COVID-era grants and funding for Oregon Health Authority programs.

OHA said in a news release late Thursday the cuts will have "an impact that will be felt immediately in all nine federally recognized Tribal communities and in every county in Oregon."

The sudden loss of the funding, a year or more before some of the grants were scheduled to end, included, among other things:

• Five grants in OHA’s Behavioral Health Division that helped establish the 988 crisis line and were planned to fill critical gaps in community substance use treatment, prevention, and recovery services, especially for communities of color, young adults, and veterans.
• A grant that established an Equity Office in OHA’s Public Health Division and provided technical assistance and training to rural health care providers, Tribes, Local Public Health Departments and community-based organizations on how to improve health in communities experiencing health inequities.
• Multiple immunization-related grants in OHA's Public Health Division to support vaccine-preventable disease work, including funding for clinics in local and Tribal communities where COVID-19 and other vaccines are offered, training to keep health care providers up to date, education for community partners on the importance of immunizations, help desk support for health care providers and the general public, information materials in multiple languages to meet specific community needs.
• Multiple grants in OHA’s Public Health Division that supported adding laboratory capacity, modernizing data systems, increased surveillance, testing and response to communicable diseases caused by respiratory viruses.

OHA officials on Thursday notified local public health authorities, the nine federally recognized Tribes and community-based organizations and partners who receive the funds that the grants have ended.

The agency said it "will continue to engage in a full evaluation of the impacts of these terminations, including whether they are legal, and remains committed to improving the lifelong health of all people in Oregon."