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Impact of federal cuts on public health and the city's health department
0:43:16
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Council Member Restler and Andrew Rein discuss the potential impact of federal cuts on public health and the increased responsibility placed on the city's health department. They explore how to prioritize resources in the face of these challenges.
- Rein emphasizes the need to identify programs with the most critical impact on high-need New Yorkers
- Restler expresses concern about the health department's shrinking staff under the current administration
- They discuss the need for smart investments to protect New Yorkers' health and safety in light of reduced federal support
Lincoln Restler
0:43:16
And if I may, in your previous hat in a key leadership role in the health department over a number of years, your analysis of the significant shrinkage that we're seeing from HHS, you know, the lack of reliability that we're face that we, I think, can no longer count on CDC and FDA in the same ways that we have historically forever.
0:43:44
What should we be what are the ways in which you think the city and our, you know, impressive public health department needs to step up and help fill some of the gaps that are have been created by the federal government.
0:43:58
Recognizing this is a moment for fiscal restraint, which I know is your overarching point, I think I know you would under you would agree that these are really important functions that
Andrew Rein
0:44:06
Yeah.
0:44:06
I spent a lot of my life in public health.
0:44:08
Right.
0:44:09
Listen.
0:44:10
The New York City Health Department is still one of the greatest health departments in the world.
0:44:13
I won't say the greatest because I you know, I'm a researcher and I haven't analyzed everyone.
0:44:19
In the first two terms when I was of the Bloomberg administration, when I was there, did over 12 pegs.
0:44:23
I think it was 12.
0:44:24
I I, you know, I need to go back.
0:44:26
We figured out how to improve health while we were dealing with, you know, budget problems.
0:44:31
What we see coming, what we've already seen come, and what we see coming might be much more extreme than that.
0:44:37
Again, as we know, we know what might be at risk, but we don't know what cuts will happen to the federal government, and we don't know how big they will be.
0:44:45
I think the approach is the same, which is to identify the impact of every program, what has the most critical impact on the most high need New Yorkers today, and prevents disease and protects the public health, you know, in the future and make sure that the resources that are available, what is from the federal government, state, and of course, the city, is focused on those resources.
0:45:09
And other things that have benefits but might not be as impactful will have to shrink.
0:45:14
That is the approach.
0:45:15
That is the right approach to use.
0:45:16
And I think the experts at the health department, I hope, who because every day, they're focused on health.
0:45:21
These are people who, no offense to myself, care about health every day and think about it all.
0:45:25
And I hope that they are doing that work right now as they should be all the time, but now, as you said, it's even more important.
Lincoln Restler
0:45:30
I I you know, we've seen five rounds of pegs or whatever it is in the Adams administration.
0:45:33
The health department has experienced significant shrinkage under this mayor.
0:45:38
There's less staff than there was, you know, during the DiBlasio years, significantly so.
0:45:42
And yet, if we're no longer able to count on the research functions of HHS, if we're no longer able to count on high quality data around infectious disease outbreaks like measles and how that puts us at risk, if we're no longer to count on the Food and Drug Administration to ensure that we're preventing outbreaks of salmonella effectively, it puts a greater onus on the health department to keep New Yorkers safe.
0:46:09
And so I just while both reckoning with the fiscal downturn and the the lack of federal funding coming in, we do need to to make sure that we are making the smart and necessary investments to protect the health and safety of New Yorkers.
0:46:24
And I worry greatly about the scale of the layoffs that secretary Kennedy has imposed and his deeply misguided and dangerous policies and how that really does require us and the state Mhmm.
0:46:36
To do more, to keep us safe.
Andrew Rein
0:46:39
And I think what this speaks to and I think about what council member Brewer was talking about, if you follow the federal money, the smart thing if we get cuts will not just be to shrink the money where those programs are, it's to allocate the city resources that remain and whatever federal government remains and whatever flexibility we have to make sure that we protect, New Yorkers in the future.
0:47:01
You're exactly right.
0:47:03
And that I think it speaks to, as you said, the health department, but throughout city government.
0:47:06
Those programs that receive federal money are most approximately at risk.
0:47:11
But frankly, for you and, of course, the mayor, it's about allocating the resources to protect New Yorkers in the best way possible, which might mean backfilling some and shrinking some city funded programs.
0:47:22
Chair.
Lincoln Restler
0:47:24
We're gonna shift to council member Brewer.
0:47:26
And if anyone else would like to jump in, please just let us know.