New Jersey Health Department Leader and NACCHO President Kevin J. Sumner in Washington, DC Today Urging Congress to Prioritize Funding for Public Health

Washington, DC, March 13, 2019 —  Today, National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) President Kevin J. Sumner is joining more than 80 state, local, and territorial health officials from across the country will meet with members of congress on Capitol Hill together on March 13, 2019. The aim of their visits is to share the critical need to sustain investments in public health agencies that protect and promote the health of all Americans and prevent sequester cuts in the FY20 budget.   NACCHO represents the nation’s nearly 3,000 local health departments.

“In the decade since the Great Recession, public health departments have lost about a fifth of their workforce due to funding issues and recovery has been slow at best. We see the impact of these resource losses on the health and well-being of our communities every day. In so many areas of public health, we know what works, but we don’t have the resources to ensure that all Americans, no matter where they live, have access to the same basic public health infrastructure, services, and protections,” says Kevin Sumner, NACCHO president and health officer/director for the Middle-Brook Regional Health Commission. “So much of our public health system operates silently in the background. By joining together on Capitol Hill, we will amplify our voice and spread the message of the importance of governmental public health in all sectors.”

Public health leaders are concerned about the impact of the potential $55 billion cut to non-defense discretionary spending that will happen in FY2020 if Congress does not act to prevent it. ASTHO and NACCHO strongly urge Congress to work in a bipartisan manner to raise FY2020 budget caps and provide needed funding for non-defense discretionary programs, and support increasing CDC’s budget 22 percent by FY22.

Mr. Sumner is available to discuss how these budgets may negatively impact New Jersey residents in the following areas:

• Disaster Preparedness
• Infectious Disease Prevention / Immunizations
• The Opioid Crisis
• National Health Security

To schedule an interview with Mr. Sumner, please contact NACCHO director of media and public relations, Theresa Spinner at tspinner@naccho.org or 202-783-5551.

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About NACCHO
The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) represents the nation’s nearly 3,000 local health departments. These city, county, metropolitan, district, and tribal departments work every day to protect and promote health and well-being for all people in their communities. For more information about NACCHO, please visit www.naccho.org.