Tarrant County Public Health is evaluating about two dozen positions for possible cuts due to diminishing grant funds, Bill Hanna, the county’s public information officer, confirmed to the Report July 30.
Dr. William Brian Byrd, who took over as public health director this month, is working with his staff to analyze next steps for these positions, according to the county. If all 24 positions are cut, they would impact about 3.6% of the 664 people employed by the public health department.
No final decisions have been made pertaining to the grant-funded positions, according to the county. Outside of cuts, the public health department could request additional funding from the Tarrant County Commissioners Court during the 2025 fiscal year budget process or identify another grant source to fund the positions, Hanna said.
County commissioners Alisa Simmons and Roy Brooks said they would need more information on the impacted positions and proposed cuts before making a decision on whether to allocate further funds to the public health department. Brooks said he expected to hear more during the next commissioners court meeting set for Aug. 6.
Commissioner Gary Fickes declined to comment and deferred to Byrd. County Judge Tim O’Hare and commissioner Manny Ramirez did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
“Dr. Byrd assures these budget considerations will not affect Tarrant County Public Health’s core functions in any way,” Hanna said in a statement.
If any Tarrant County Public Health employee is impacted, they will be encouraged to apply for other open positions with the department, Hanna said.
The public health department is responsible for overseeing services like family health programs, immunization and disease control and prevention.
Tarrant County Public Health has earned headlines in recent months following the sudden departure of longtime director Veerinder “Vinny” Taneja in February. In July, the county released an audit report revealing some of the department’s “significant issues” with its administration of federal and state grant funds in recent years.
A current public health employee told the Report that employees whose positions could be impacted have been encouraged to update their resumes and LinkedIn pages for other employment opportunities.
A July 30 review of public health department employees’ LinkedIn pages showed more than 20 current employees have an “open to work” banner on their profile photos.
Public health workers were told they would receive an update in the next few weeks, according to the current employee, who spoke on condition of anonymity as they are not authorized to speak publicly.
This is a developing story and has been updated with additional comment from commissioners.
David Moreno is the health reporter for the Fort Worth Report. His position is supported by a grant from Texas Health Resources. Contact him at david.moreno@fortworthreport.org or @davidmreports on X.
Emily Wolf is a government accountability reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at emily.wolf@fortworthreport.org or @_wolfemily.
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