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NH DHHS reports sudden end to federal COVID-era grants, agency reviews contracts and staff funding
Summary
The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services told the Legislature its federal pandemic-era grants — about $80 million in approved encumbrances — were terminated unexpectedly, prompting contract cancellations and reassignments for staff while leaders assess service and infrastructure impacts.
The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services told the Health and Human Services Oversight Committee on March 28 that federal pandemic-era grants it had been spending through September 2026 were abruptly terminated, affecting roughly $80,000,000 in approved awards and contracts.
"Most of our staff had left for the day when at 05:38PM on Monday, in comes an email that basically says you no longer have this funding effective immediately," Commissioner Lori Weaver said, describing departmental reaction after staff opened the notice the next morning.
The department said about $75 million of the total was tied to public-health grants — primarily epidemiology and laboratory capacity and CDC health-disparities funding — and about $5 million related to behavioral-health grants. Weaver said roughly 20 DHHS staff who had been funded by the grants faced immediate funding gaps; the department worked with the state Division of Personnel to…
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