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Framingham health director: FY2026 cuts could remove medical assistant and environmental officer positions
Summary
Health director Bill Lehi told the Board of Health that the city’s FY2026 level-services guidance and funding decisions leave vulnerable positions unfilled, limiting clinic operations and hazardous-waste oversight.
Bill Lehi, Framingham’s health director, told the Board of Health on May 13 that the department’s proposed fiscal 2026 budget returned from the mayor’s office without funding for a medical assistant post and put the environmental protection officer position at risk.
“I was hoping to keep that position on for as long as we could, but when they looked at our department they said that was one of the positions that is vulnerable and that will not be funded,” Lehi said, describing the environmental position that oversees hazardous-waste site work as likely to be cut.
Lehi said the medical assistant role had been a front-line, registration and clinic-support position that turned over frequently and that losing it affects the department’s ability to deliver services from the municipal clinic. As interim measures, he said the department is relying on per‑diem nurses and considering repurposing other positions to bolster nursing capacity. He also said the department is pursuing grants and regional partnerships as ways to preserve services.
On the budget process, Lehi said he prepares a “level services” budget and that final decisions rest with the city’s chief financial officer and the mayor’s office; any proposed municipal budgets then go before the finance committee and the City Council for approval.
Board members asked questions about whether the department would shift staff responsibilities and about the ability to form partnerships with free clinics. No formal board vote was taken on the budget at the meeting; Lehi said he would continue to brief the board as more budget decisions are finalized.
