Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Health Funding topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Health Department seeks funds to sustain immunization staff after state grant ends; committee sends appropriation to full council
Summary
After the state ended a long-running immunization grant, county health department staff asked the council to appropriate funds so immunization staff can continue under the department’s HFI (Health First Indiana/HFI referenced) funding; the Budget Administration Committee recommended the appropriation to the full council with a favorable vote.
Amy Rupi, director of finance for the St. Joseph County Department of Health, told the Budget Administration Committee the state recently directed the county to cease immunization grant activities under the current immunization grant, but the department learned it may keep roughly $83,000 of the grant to use through June 30.
Rupi said the department is requesting appropriation of additional HFI funding to absorb staff funded by the immunization grant once the $83,000 is exhausted so that immunization efforts can continue. She said the immunization grant had been in place since 2015 and its abrupt end was unexpected.
Committee members asked whether this was an emergency-level request; Rupi said the department intends to build the positions into the 2026 HFI budget and that the appropriation covers the gap through June 30. The committee voted to send the request to the full council with a favorable recommendation.
Ending: The appropriation will go to the full council for consideration; county staff acknowledged the need to plan for budget season as state funding prospects remain uncertain.
