A recent funding freeze, caused by a vague memo from the Office of Management and Budget, has left health clinics and nonprofits across the US scrambling to access vital federal funds. Despite the freeze being lifted, many organizations continue to face delays, threatening their ability to operate and serve their communities.
A judge has blocked the funding freeze, but organizations say they are still unable to access money they urgently need to pay for salaries, utilities, supplies and other expenses. A nonprofit mental health program for teenage girls is turning to a private donor to help cover its expenses. Three Virginia health clinics have shut their doors. And a network of health centers in rural Mississippi is facing a deficit of $500,000 and may have to scale back services.
Across the country, health clinics and nonprofit organizations largely serving rural and low-income patients have found themselves unable to access previously allocated federal funds, as a vaguely worded, two-page memo the Office of Management and Budget sent to all federal agencies early last week directing them to “temporarily pause all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance” that could conflict with last week’s Supreme Court ruling. The Justice Department said in a filing Wednesday that agencies are working through the process of issuing all appropriate funding disbursements. But some organizations say they are still unable to access money they urgently need to pay for salaries, utilities, supplies and other expenses — threatening their ability to continue operating in their communities. “We are continuing to hear from nonprofits that are unable to access the funding that they need to continue their programs and to continue paying their staff,” said Diane Yentel, CEO of the National Council of Nonprofits, which was part of a lawsuit filed to block the funding freeze. “It’s clear that the confusion and the chaos that the directive unleashed hasn’t ended, despite it being rescinded and despite the temporary restraining orders from two different courts.” Yentel said much of the funding that the groups are unable to access is coming from programs administered by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). While some organizations haven’t had any issues withdrawing their funds since the memo directing the funding freeze was rescinded, HHS acknowledged that some grant recipients have experienced issues accessing their federal funds and attributed the delays to technical issues the agency’s website has been having. A high volume of requests has come in since the website was temporarily offline last week following the funding freeze. HHS is working to “help expedite resolutions as quickly as possible,” the spokesperson said in a statement. Health clinics and nonprofits serving low-income patients say there is little wiggle room in their budget to cover their costs without federal assistance. Feeling out of the loop? We'll catch you up on the Chicago news you need to know. Sign up for the weekly Republicans voted together to advance Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s health secretary nomination, while Democrats were opposed at a committee vote Tuesday morning. Community health centers, also known as federally qualified health centers, rely on federal grants for part of their funding in order to provide medical care, dental, behavioral health and substance use disorder services to more than 32 million Americans. That makes for In Virginia, 11 of the state’s 31 community health center operators were still unable to access their funding as of Thursday morning, said Joe Stevens, a spokesperson for the Virginia Community Healthcare Association. One of those providers has had to close three of its clinics in Richmond and has been directing patients to its other locations. Another clinic in rural southwestern Virginia is at risk of cutting back services or closing if its funding doesn’t come through in the next two weeks, said Stevens. “If a health center closes in rural Virginia, for many people that is their primary source of health care, there are no hospitals nearby, no emergency centers nearby,” said Stevens. During his confirmation hearings, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump's nominee for secretary of health and human services, said,'I strongly support community health centers, as does the president.' But Democrats including Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia Several clinics in Maine, Nebraska, Illinois and Michigan have also been unable to draw down funds from the federally run website they use to access the money, according to Advocates for Community Health, an advocacy group for community health centers. “While we don’t have an answer for the reasoning behind it, we do know that health centers cannot afford to wait, and it is critical that Congress and get to the bottom of it,” said Amanda Pears Kelly, CEO at Advocates for Community Health. “Health centers in Virginia have already been forced to close their doors and cancel patient appointments this week because they are unable to access payments, and we fear that more closures and furloughs are on the wa
FUNDING FREEZE HEALTH CLINICS NONPROFITS FEDERAL FUNDS COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTERS
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