Will County health officials warn grant cuts could shrink services; board asks for detailed data

Elizabeth Balana, of the Will County Health Department, told the county board that several grants were reduced or terminated starting July 1 and that the department is reviewing programs to determine which services would remain.

“Under impending reductions in revenue, we did have 1 of our grants, the well woman grant terminated,” Balana said. She added the department was “notified that our better birth outcomes comprehensive grant is being reduced by $51,630, and we were also notified that our emergency preparedness grant will have a 27.52 reduction. However, we don't know the amount because they haven't told us what our grant is going to be, and that started on July 1.”

The health department said those changes, together with possible federal and state Medicaid shifts, have already affected staffing and could force program cuts. Balana said the department is “losing staff in immunizations, in communicable disease, in emergency preparedness, and better birth outcomes, and maternal health and child.” She told the board the health department will review which community programs another entity might provide before proposing cuts and said the board of health is considering a request for additional levy funding for fiscal 2026.

Board members pressed for specific data about the size and use of affected grants. Julie Berkowitz, a board member, asked for “a breakdown of where this grant [the well woman grant] is spent” and requested the department submit its budget for the grant that covered activity through June 30. Costa, another member, cited a figure from Balana’s report saying Medicaid and Medicare revenue for the last fiscal year was $7,000,000 and asked whether a full loss of that revenue would mean a $7 million shortfall.

Balana cautioned the board that Medicaid changes being discussed at state and federal levels would phase in over years and that it was difficult to estimate exact impacts. She told the board, “60% of the health department's revenue does come from Medicaid and Medicare dollars,” and that “85% of patients that utilize our behavioral health services … pay through Medicaid.”

Board members and department staff also discussed immunizations and the federal Vaccines for Children (VFC) program. Balana and Cheryl Picard, assistant division director of family health services, explained why many private pediatric offices no longer participate in VFC: strict inventory and documentation rules and frequent cold‑chain monitoring. “There’s inventories that need to be done, you know, twice a day,” Picard said. Denise Bergen, assistant executive director at the health department, said the department provides VFC and related adult programs and can charge a capped administrative fee for those vaccines.

The department reported program updates that it will include in the budget review: the county’s community health center — “over 20 years old” — needs facility repairs; a new WIC milk depot opened at the North Branch office in Bolingbrook in partnership with Mother’s Milk Bank of the Western Great Lakes (the department said a donor brought “a thousand ounces to donate, which is 10 gallons”); and the department’s iPLAN (Illinois needs assessment) was approved by the board of health and will be submitted to the Illinois Department of Public Health for certification as a local health department requirement.

Requests and next steps recorded during the meeting include: the board asking staff to provide a detailed budget breakdown for the terminated well woman grant; counts and historical data on how many uninsured and Medicaid/Medicare patients the department serves (including how many vaccinations are provided through VFC vs. other channels); a list of state grant amounts the department receives; and clarification of which federal or state pass‑through funds have been received or remain pending. Balana said the department would work with the board and return with additional information at the next meeting.

The board did not take a formal vote on any budget changes at the meeting; members instructed staff to compile the requested data for future consideration.