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Health department seeks $6 million in FY27 mainly to expand community health workers and surveillance
Summary
Dr. Hughes told the board FY27 operating funds will increase about $6 million driven by new grants; the department plans to hire roughly 10 community health workers, an additional coordinator and several environmental health hires and to expand wastewater surveillance ahead of major events.
Dr. Hughes briefed the board that the health department’s FY27 operating budget will increase by about $6 million, driven largely by new grant awards.
"We've increased our overall budget for FY27 by about 6 million and that puts us up around 30 million for our operating budget," Dr. Hughes said, and attributed most of the growth to specific grant tranches. One tranche — the rural health transformation grant — is expected to fund community health worker expansion.
She said the department expects to hire about 10 community health workers and an additional coordinator, with placements planned in North Omaha, South Omaha and partner organizations. Final placement details and exact funding amounts were still being negotiated with the state at the time of the meeting.
Dr. Hughes also described plans to begin wastewater scanning to track pathogens (including influenza, RSV, COVID, norovirus, hepatitis A, measles, West Nile and others) ahead of large events such as the College World Series and regional sports events, noting the state no longer reports centralized wastewater surveillance data.
The board heard that some aspects of grant narratives and budgets remain under negotiation and staff will return with more detailed implementation plans and locations for hires.
