Despite federal Covid-19 funding inaction, Indiana in good shape – Inside INdiana Business

Congressional impasse over anti-Covid-19 funding may jeopardize entry to testing, remedy and vaccines — however Indiana’s personal Covid-19 coffers stay flush. The state has 43% of its $1 billion-plus in grants left to spend, in keeping with Indiana Division of Well being knowledge obtained by the Capital Chronicle.

“Often, we’re borrowing from one space to pay one other space, however we actually haven’t wanted to ask for extra money or something,” State Well being Commissioner Dr. Kris Field mentioned. “We’ve been fairly self sustaining.”

Indiana Division of Well being Commissioner Kris Field. (Courtesy Indiana Division of Well being)
The Indiana Division of Well being took in about $1.36 billion {dollars} in assist throughout the pandemic, and has till mid-2024 to spend the remaining $580 million.

The cash got here in throughout 23 completely different grants and agreements with entities just like the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention and the U.S. Division of Homeland Safety.

It’s gone to neighborhood testing and vaccinations; distribution of non-public protecting tools, testing and vaccine provides like sub-zero storage fridges and 10 van clinics; an internet portal for testing and vaccine registration, scheduling, reporting and billing; contact tracing; a COVID-19-only 211 line; and extra, Field mentioned. She mentioned state help helped the company begin engaged on its packages even earlier than federal {dollars} rolled in.

A wave of earlier grants resulted in 2021. However others final by way of mid-2024.

Field’s company continues to be engaged on a contract with the Indiana Housing and Group Improvement Authority and assist for long-term care coaching, for instance, in keeping with the information.

Every funding supply comes with its personal strings.

“Our finance division not solely signed all of the contracts and does all of the grants and every little thing, however in addition they preserve monitor of all the cash,” Field mentioned. “Once you’ve acquired 10 completely different funding streams coming in and each grant has a whole lot of specifics about what that grant can be utilized for, they should ensure that the utilization that they’re approving is definitely acceptable to the actual grant that it’s getting charged to.”

Provide chain woes early on hampered the state’s response — “Even once you had some huge cash, you couldn’t purchase what you wanted,” Field mentioned — however that’s “largely resolved.”

The staffing shortages, already problematic pre-pandemic, aren’t over.

Some remaining funding will go towards personnel and contract employees.

Field mentioned her company misplaced about 330 of its 760 full-time scientific staff throughout the disaster — almost 43% of its workforce. The CDC employed a few of her employees away, as did hospitals and long-term care services.

“We have been coming in and dealing seven days per week, and even once we went residence at 7 or 8 at evening, we might be consuming rapidly after which popping again onto conferences till 11 or 12, and coming within the subsequent day once more at 7 within the morning,” Field mentioned.

“It was fairly brutal and emotionally very troublesome. It was exhausting,” she added. “And fairly truthfully, public well being wages — the governor [Eric Holcomb] is engaged on altering this proper now — however wages for lots of those positions have been actually low.”

Requested if she thought Indiana will have the ability to deal with Covid-19-related prices alone by then, if Congress doesn’t authorize extra assist, Field was hopeful.

“God keen,” she mentioned.

She mentioned she believed the virus would change into endemic, with instances rising within the fall and winter and falling within the spring and summer season, and with vaccine producers readying seasonal doses in opposition to the strains they anticipate being most prevalent that 12 months — except a “worse pressure” springs up.

“Covid unveiled the the extent to which we battle … with having the infrastructure and help that we want throughout our state in public well being,” Field mentioned.

She hoped the current outcomes and suggestions from a Holcomb job pressure would assist put together the state for future public heath emergencies. Already, Indiana’s used its cell clinics to vaccinate Hoosiers in opposition to monkeypox.

The aim, Field mentioned, is to not “rely as closely on our Nationwide Guard and our hospital programs and a few of my precise staff — who have been working by day to do their jobs after which spending their nights and weekends out on the [Indianapolis Motor Speedway mass-vaccination center] or on the cell van doing testing and vaccines.”

The Indiana Capital Chronicle is an impartial, not-for-profit information group that covers state authorities, coverage and elections.