Layoff notices went out to workers at the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH). The agency said 170 workers will be let go due to immediate cuts in federal funding.

“It’s very challenging for me and everyone who is in that building,” said Lydia Fess, an MDH epidemiologist, who received notice she could be out of work. “There’s a lot of uncertainty — people are afraid — we’re still trying to get a full picture of what this looks like and what the impact is going to be.”

Fess said she not only worked on analyzing COVID data but also other areas like rabies and bird flu.

MDH said they learned more than $220 million in grants were pulled by the federal government.

“This is a really a challenging day for our entire public health system,” said Dr. Brooke Cunningham, MDH commissioner.

Federal health officials announced last week they are pulling back $11.4 billion in COVID-19-related funds for state and local public health departments and other health organizations throughout the nation.

“The COVID-19 pandemic is over, and HHS will no longer waste billions of taxpayer dollars responding to a non-existent pandemic that Americans moved on from years ago,” the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement.

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“Many of the people who were covered under the grants were broader infectious disease teams; they really have felt the impacts of these layoffs,” said Dr. Cunningham.

Gov. Tim Walz spoke on Wednesday about the MDH layoffs and possible future.

“I’m telling my teams to assume that you’ve got a federal grant, or federal program to assume it’s going to be cut, and start planning different scenarios accordingly,” Gov. Walz said.

According to the agency, 50% of MDH’s funding comes from the federal government.

In a new release on Tuesday, MDH listed the impacts due to the funding cuts:

• Significantly reduced support for nursing homes, including funding for HVAC upgrades and staff training around disease prevention, as well as support for county jails and other congregate settings.
• Slower response times to infectious disease outbreaks.
• Immediate suspension of partner-led vaccine clinics and emergency preparedness activities.
• Reduced laboratory support for hospitals and health care systems that could delay lab results and patient care.
• An inability to upgrade the Minnesota Immunization Information Connection, the state’s immunization information system, which means it will remain outdated.
• Suspension of the INSPIRE Program, a program to get middle and high school students excited about and interested in public health.
• Reduced funding for Tribal Public Health.

AP contributed to this reporting.