State public health chief requests $41.5M in new funding for pay, maternal programs and disaster medical shelters

Doctor Simmer, director of the South Carolina Department of Public Health, told the House healthcare subcommittee that DPH’s FY2027 budget request seeks $22,700,000 in new recurring funding, $18,800,000 in new one‑time funding, and 22 new FTEs, plus funding for 27 existing but unfunded FTEs.

Simmer said the department’s first priority is market‑aligned pay: a $10.8 million recurring request prompted by a Mercer pay study that found roughly two‑thirds of DPH positions are below tenure‑based targets and about 13% below the statewide market midpoint. Simmer said DPH has identified 1,182 positions to target, with an average increase of about 10% (roughly $6,000) and a cap of 15% this year to limit budgetary impact. He argued pay increases will reduce turnover — exit interviews indicate 66% of staff who leave cite inadequate pay — and that turnover replacement can cost 40–60% of a worker’s annual salary.

On maternal and infant health, Simmer summarized the department’s “Building Bright Beginnings” package. He said South Carolina’s maternal mortality rate is more than double the national average and that infant mortality has not meaningfully improved in the past decade. The package includes a $600,000 recurring expansion of the birth‑defects program (to reduce case backlog from about six months to one month), a $1,000,000 one‑time pilot to provide home blood‑pressure monitors to pregnant people to detect preeclampsia earlier, $1,500,000 in seed ‘maternal health mini grants’ to test community ideas (up to 92 awards), and a recurring request to scale an evidence‑based Healthy Futures youth initiative in K–8 schools and about 100 child‑care sites to address childhood obesity.

Simmer acknowledged racial disparities in maternal and newborn outcomes when pressed by Representative Rutherford, saying the department’s programs aim to benefit everyone and that he expects some mini grants to target African American communities specifically. On whether slides omitted race data by design, Simmer said the disparity is real and confirmed he would provide more details.

Simmer also asked for funds to strengthen disaster medical response after gaps identified in Hurricane Helene. He proposed establishing four contract‑operated medical care shelters staffed by medical professionals, buying seven generators for medical equipment power shelters (one‑time request of $10.1 million), and creating a Medical Disaster Response Fund — an interest‑bearing account to hold disaster response monies and enable immediate vendor payment, with FEMA reimbursements returned to the fund.

Other DPH requests included $2.6 million recurring for staffing to combat rabies, tuberculosis and sexually transmitted infections; $3 million recurring and $5 million one‑time to modernize the department’s electronic health record and pharmacy systems and to digitize paper records (with 10 FTEs to support the work); and a cautious AI rollout seeking $943,000 recurring and $500,000 one‑time for 1,500 Microsoft Copilot licenses, staff training and IT support, which DPH said could assist outbreak modeling and public‑comment synthesis while keeping humans in final control.

Lawmakers asked for data backing program effectiveness and for details on how mini grants would be distributed. On hospital hallway beds, Representative Rutherford engaged in an extended exchange with Simmer about enforcement of the state fire code and the department’s plan to present legislative language with the hospital association and governor to allow limited exceptions during surge periods; Simmer said active enforcement is paused while the legislature considers statutory change.

The department offered to provide follow‑up data on Healthy Futures outcomes and to supply more race‑disaggregated maternal mortality data upon request. The committee recessed to hear the Department of Social Services later in the hearing.

Ending: DPH’s presentation closed with commitments to provide requested data and to return legislative language on hallway beds; the committee took no vote on funding during the hearing.