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Geary County Health Department told WIC contract won't renew; staff reductions planned
Summary
Geary County Health Department Director Charles Martinez told commissioners the department has been notified the county will lose its WIC contract for 2026 after state funding reductions, and that the program already faced a 44% cut in the current grant cycle.
Charles Martinez, Geary County health department director, informed the board that the department will lose its Women, Infants and Children (WIC) contract for 2026 after state and federal funding cuts.
Martinez said the department recently learned it would face a 44% reduction in WIC funding for the 2024–2025 grant cycle and that, on the preceding Friday, the state told the county it would not renew the WIC contract for 2026. "We lost 44% of our our budget with that," Martinez said. He said the county then received notice the state would not renew the contract for the next cycle.
As a result, Martinez said staff would begin referring clients to other WIC providers and rescheduling appointments through the end of the current grant cycle. He said two WIC staff positions would end later in the month and one planned hire for a nurse could not proceed. Martinez said Geary County's caseload for the WIC program was large relative to population; in May, 543 people received benefits through the county program and would need to be served elsewhere after contract termination.
The director described attempts to coordinate with neighboring providers. He said the department is working with Konza (Conza/Conz?? — transcript referenced Konza/Conza; identified in meeting as Konza) and other nearby clinics about absorbing clients but expressed concern about their capacity, noting that several other counties also received funding cuts.
Martinez said the county had been receiving more per‑capita WIC funding than many counties and that the program had operated under a waiver for a dietitian; he said lack of an on‑staff dietitian was a factor the state cited. The department plans to move one experienced clinic supervisor back to clinical duties to cover some functions, but Martinez said the cuts would nonetheless reduce the clinic's staff and its ability to operate.
Commissioners asked whether nearby agencies could absorb clients; Martinez said the department is working through that with provider CEOs and the state. The board did not take an action at the meeting beyond hearing the update. Martinez said contract termination would be effective at the end of the grant cycle: "Once this ends, we will no longer have WIC" — the director gave the date for the grant cycle end as September 30.
Why it matters: WIC provides nutritional support and related services to low‑income pregnant and postpartum people, infants and young children. Martinez told commissioners that losing the local clinic will require clients to seek services from other counties or providers; the transcript records concern about the ability of neighboring WIC providers to absorb several hundred additional clients.
What remains unresolved: Which provider(s) will absorb Geary County WIC clients, how coverage gaps will be handled and whether staff displaced by contract termination will be rehired by other agencies. Martinez said his team is working on referrals and outreach to neighboring providers and elected to encourage affected staff to apply to other county listings; county leaders offered to provide references.
No statutory citations or specific state funding formulas were read into the record at the meeting; Martinez attributed the change to state and federal funding decisions and cited programmatic requirements such as dietitian staffing as factors mentioned by the state.
