The Knox County Health Department is doing better than many counties feeling the crunch of a seemingly unending Illinois budget impasse.
As the state enters its fifth month without a budget, 20 local health departments have laid off staff, 13 have reduced the length of the work week and 40 have cut public health services because of the lack of state funds that are tied up.
Those numbers were provided by the Illinois Public Health Association and were discussed during last night’s Knox County Board of Health meeting.
Health Department Administrator Michele Fishburn tells WGIL her department has managed to avoid making those sorts of cuts, for the time being.
“We haven’t eliminated jobs or removed anybody,” Fishburn says, “it’s all been through attrition. So, we had a health educator resign and go back to school, we have not refilled that position. Also, our APN recently left and we’re leaving that position opened to see how the clinic flows with it open like that.”
Presently, health departments are banking on a new senate bill, co-sponsored by Democratic Senator John Sullivan, that would free up about $17.1 million for some services the departments provide.
The bill would bring in about $108,000 for the Knox County agency, Fishburn says.
