Q&A
Federal government support and funding for public health emergencies
0:27:36
ยท
101 sec
Dr. Michelle Morse explains the federal government's role in supporting New York City during public health emergencies, focusing on funding and infrastructure support.
- During COVID-19, NYC received significant federal funding for vaccination and public health information efforts
- DOHMH estimates spending about $1 billion on the COVID-19 response
- Currently, $600 million of DOHMH's budget comes from direct federal funds
- Federal funding supports critical infrastructure like disease investigation, data collection, and public health lab operations
Lynn Schulman
0:27:36
Can you describe the type of support including funding support that the federal government provides to New York City during public health emergencies?
Dr. Michelle Morse
0:27:44
Yes.
0:27:45
That is, a really important question.
0:27:47
I'll start by describing kind of what happened during the COVID pandemic.
0:27:52
During the COVID pandemic, there was a really powerful federal response, after a little bit of time.
0:27:59
And during that response, the New York City Health Department was able to receive funds from the federal government to help with a number of different key activities that were required to make sure that everyone who was able to everyone got vaccinated and that everyone had reliable public health information to protect themselves.
0:28:19
At the end of that response, our estimate is that the New York City Health Department spent about $1,000,000,000 on that COVID response, but each response is different.
0:28:31
And what I will say is that the $600,000,000 in our current agency budget that are direct federal funds, those funds really build the infrastructure that we would rely on for any emergency response.
0:28:46
That includes things like disease investigation, the data that we need to know if a new public health threat is coming.
0:28:54
It includes our public health lab and that lab of course functions 20 fourseven to make sure that any emerging infectious threats are tested and identified.
0:29:05
So those are all core public health infrastructure and services that we would rely on very heavily if and when we face another public health emergency.
0:29:16
I hope that answers
Angela Burns
0:29:17
your question.