Medical Group Leader Says Health Department Budget Cuts Could Be Disastrous
The president of Mississippi’s medical association is speaking out against budget cuts at the state health department. MPB’s Evelina Burnett reports.
The health department, like most other state agencies, has already faced several rounds of cuts and its budget is likely to shrink next year too as the state faces another year with revenue below expectations.
Dr. Lee Voulters is president of the Mississippi State Medical Association. He says he understands there are budget cuts everywhere, "but what is more important than the health of our community? We must protect our drinking water. We must protect restaurants. We must protect our citizens against Zika virus, against tuberculosis, and all these communicable diseases, and we cannot do that without a viable and functioning department of health.”
A recent article in the Clarion Ledger quoted Senate President Pro tem Terry Burton as saying that the legislature would be trying to get the health department more money, but that the department is also going to go back to "what they used to do" - specifically, more education and less work in clinics.
Read more: http://www.mpbonline.org/blogs/news/2017/03/20/medical-group-leader-says-health-department-budget-cuts-could-be-disasterous/