WASHINGTON (7News) — Employees at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) began receiving dismissal notices on Tuesday following last week’s announcement of a significant workforce reduction. The department plans to cut 10,000 full-time positions across various sectors.
Dr. Craig Spencer, an emergency room physician and associate professor of health policy at Brown University, expressed concern over the layoffs.
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“There is no way we won’t eventually regret many of the cuts we saw today,” said Spencer, who noted that he knows dozens of individuals affected by the layoffs.
Spencer emphasized the critical loss of expertise, stating:
We are losing thousands and thousands of experts at a time when we need them more than ever.
He highlighted the impact on essential areas such as drug evaluation, research, and regulatory policy.
Long lines of employees were seen outside the HHS Headquarters on Independence Avenue and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in Rockville, part of the National Institute of Health, as they awaited further information.
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HHS referred inquiries back to last week’s statement, which described the cuts as part of an effort to streamline the agency. The goal is to reduce the workforce from 82,000 to 62,000 full-time employees.
Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said, “[they’re] going to imbue the agency with a clear sense of mission, radically improve the health of Americans and improve agency morale.”
However, Dr. Spencer warned of potential negative consequences:
We’re going to be having more outbreaks than we’ve seen in a long time, have things like measles going out of control in Texas, but eventually more concerning things.
