Gov Shutdown Will Severely Impact Frontline Health Care Providers
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday, September 29 2023
Contact: Cabot Petoia, clpetoia@gmail.com, 828-899-9239
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Los Angeles — The looming government shutdown will have ripple effects across the country, significantly impacting Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) who rely on grants from the federal government to operate.
St. John’s Community Health, a network of public health centers serving over 120,000 patients in South, Central, and East Los Angeles, faces a multi-million dollar per month deficit in light of the government shutdown. St. John’s Community Health, like many FQHCs, serves primarily marginalized and vulnerable populations.
St. John’s serves the largest population of undocumented people in the contiguous United States; thousands of unhoused people through their street medicine team and groundbreaking center that offers laundry, storage, and showers in addition to health care services; and runs the largest transgender-specific healthcare program in the United States. 97 percent of their patients are low income, and 95 percent are Latinx and/or Black.
St. John’s receives several million dollars per month in federal grants – the government shutdown would put those regularly awarded amounts on pause, forcing them to incur expenses without being able to get reimbursed for the work.
“The government shutdown will harm communities of color and low income people the most, point blank period,” said Jim Mangia, president and CEO of St. John’s Community Health. “Frontline health care services are critical right now – and a government shutdown would significantly impact both immediate patient care and long term projects. For example, we are gearing up for a massive effort to get the new COVID-19 booster administered, as immunity has waned for most people by now, and are also in the process of renovating buildings to serve tens of thousands of people in the Inland Empire who currently lack health care.
“The government shutdown threatens the expansive work done by FQHCs, and the communities we serve. We urge our lawmakers to come up with a solution that allows for essential services to continue running smoothly.”