Supervisor decries loss of $40M for county lab as court halts federal cuts to public health funding

Almost million in federal funding has been revoked from San Diego County which is preparing to open a new Population Soundness Laboratory next month Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer s office mentioned Thursday that the money the county had been expecting from the U S Centers for Sickness Control and Prevention would no longer be forthcoming But the state also communicated Thursday that a court had temporarily halted plans to cut billion in federal population physical condition funding across the country State Attorney General Rob Bonta along with more than states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the U S Department of Medical and Human Services seeking to block slashing federal dollars for citizens fitness The CDC is part of HHS On Thursday Bonta s office mentioned that the U S District Court for the District of Rhode Island granted a temporary restraining order that restores inhabitants medical funding to state and local society medical agencies across the country including million to California It is unclear what impact the court s decision will have on the specific cut cited by Lawson-Remer In a news release Lawson-Remer revealed the CDC s local decision guts backing for affection surveillance lab staffing vaccine delivery and soundness equity Last week she explained the county was notified that the CDC would rescind funds under several programs including the Epidemiology and Laboratory Threshold operation the Immunization and Vaccines for Children effort and the COVID- Medical Disparities Grant The county had counted on the funding she commented all of which had been awarded through the next fiscal year ending in While the county was set to receive million administrators now estimate that approximately million will not be available due to the CDC s abrupt -day closeout period according to the news release We built the lab announced Lawson-Remer the Board of Supervisors vice chair who is serving as acting chair in the absence of the former chair We planned responsibly We kept our end of the deal Now the federal regime is walking away from theirs and San Diego families are the ones paying the price The million Constituents Medical Lab scheduled to open in May at the County Operations Center in Kearny Mesa was designed to reduce reliance on out-of-county corporate labs and expand rapid response capabilities for threats from contagious diseases It includes a whole genome sequencing lab expanded wastewater surveillance to monitor for viruses and a training center According to Lawson-Remer s office the CDC funding would have covered million in capital costs for the new laboratory and equipment But without federal aid the county may be unable to equip or staff the facility as planned her office added Critical programs are at hazard according to the release include a mobile testing unit for district outbreaks in-shelter flu and hepatitis vaccinations and a population medical evidence system The county is looking at procedures to preserve population medical functions Lawson-Remer s office revealed The CDC did not respond to a request for comment Note Inset Rendering of San Diego County s Citizens Healthcare Laboratory Photo courtesy of County News Center City News Utility contributed to this account