Committee recommends council approve reallocating leftover women's health and immunization grant funds
September 17, 2025 | Bethlehem, Lehigh and Northampton Counties, Pennsylvania
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The Bethlehem City Council Finance Committee on Tuesday recommended placing legislation on the full council agenda to appropriate leftover funds from two public-health grants: $7,900 for the women's health services account and $34,000 for the immunization outreach account.
The increases are intended to make available prior‑year unspent grant dollars for ongoing operations in the current fiscal year, including family‑planning clinic personnel and immunization outreach activities.
An administration representative who presented the request said the women's health services grant supports the city’s family-planning clinic by paying for nurse-practitioner services and that the state-funded women's health grant is currently slated to end June 30, 2026; the state has expressed hope the grant will continue, but its renewal is not yet certain. The presenter said the immunization outreach grant will provide less funding going forward but that the city can use other sources to cover the shortfall.
Committee members asked about the impact of decreased immunization grant funding. The presenter said the city holds a five‑year public-health infrastructure grant that runs through 2027 and provides flexible funding that can be used to cover personnel costs if immunization grant amounts decline. The administration said it is also pursuing partnerships with managed‑care organizations and billing reimbursements to sustain clinic services; the meeting transcript cites efforts to explore funding from Highmark WholeCare Medicaid and AmeriHealth Caritas and notes existing successful partnerships with other managed‑care plans.
A council member asked whether the city was still administering COVID-19 vaccines through these accounts; the presenter replied the city had chosen not to buy COVID vaccines because the cost of purchase exceeded reimbursement under available programs.
The committee moved and seconded a recommendation to place the appropriation legislation on the full council agenda; the clerk recorded unanimous “aye” votes from the committee members present and the item will appear on tonight's council agenda.
Next steps: the administration will place the proposed ordinance on the full council agenda for a final vote by the City Council.
The increases are intended to make available prior‑year unspent grant dollars for ongoing operations in the current fiscal year, including family‑planning clinic personnel and immunization outreach activities.
An administration representative who presented the request said the women's health services grant supports the city’s family-planning clinic by paying for nurse-practitioner services and that the state-funded women's health grant is currently slated to end June 30, 2026; the state has expressed hope the grant will continue, but its renewal is not yet certain. The presenter said the immunization outreach grant will provide less funding going forward but that the city can use other sources to cover the shortfall.
Committee members asked about the impact of decreased immunization grant funding. The presenter said the city holds a five‑year public-health infrastructure grant that runs through 2027 and provides flexible funding that can be used to cover personnel costs if immunization grant amounts decline. The administration said it is also pursuing partnerships with managed‑care organizations and billing reimbursements to sustain clinic services; the meeting transcript cites efforts to explore funding from Highmark WholeCare Medicaid and AmeriHealth Caritas and notes existing successful partnerships with other managed‑care plans.
A council member asked whether the city was still administering COVID-19 vaccines through these accounts; the presenter replied the city had chosen not to buy COVID vaccines because the cost of purchase exceeded reimbursement under available programs.
The committee moved and seconded a recommendation to place the appropriation legislation on the full council agenda; the clerk recorded unanimous “aye” votes from the committee members present and the item will appear on tonight's council agenda.
Next steps: the administration will place the proposed ordinance on the full council agenda for a final vote by the City Council.
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