HOUSTON – The Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) is reaching out to counties using COVID-era grants to stop spending those funds as it evaluates $877 million in grant cancelations by the federal government.
“We have notified our grantees to stop spending those funds,” Chris Van Deusen, the Director of Media Relations for the Texas Department of State Health Services confirmed to KPRC 2. “Because we’re dealing with multiple grants with many grantees at various stages of drawing down funds, it will take some time to determine the potential effects and total amounts involved.”
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The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has already canceled $877 million in grants to the Texas DSHS, according to the Department of Government and Efficiency’s (DOGE) website.
Van Deusen stated the money was mainly used for COVID-19 response efforts; some focused on epidemiology and laboratory capacity, one on immunizations, and another that addressed health disparities.
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As of now, it’s unclear what impact this will have on the Houston-area community. However, Montgomery County officials have reported that they eliminated the Health Disparities Grant Community Outreach Specialist position due to the cuts.
“This position did not exist prior to the grant funding,” a spokesperson stated.
A spokesperson for Brazoria County Judge Matt Sebesta also confirmed they were notified of cuts.
“Brazoria County Health Department has been notified that the Department of Health and Human Services has reassessed federal funding allocations,” the spokesperson said. “At this time, we are in the process of gathering more details to understand the extent of how these potential cuts could affect the public health programming and services in Brazoria County.”
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As for Houston, Mary Benton, the Chief of Communications for Mayor John Whitmire, said the health department is determining the impacts on Houstonians, “including the personnel who administer the programs funded by federal dollars.”
KPRC 2 reached out to Harris, Fort Bend, Liberty, and Galveston counties to see if any of their programs were impacted. We have also contacted the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for comment.
