Florida is a cautionary tale. #PublicHealth funding dropped precipitously, leaving the state especially unprepared for the worst health crisis in a century, according to an KHN/@AP investigation. 1/7
📝: @laura_ungar /@JHDearen/@hannah_recht
🔗: bit.ly/34vSsOm
Florida slashed local health departments’ staffing from 12,422 in 2010 to 9,125 in 2019, our analysis of state data showed #UnderfundedUnderThreat. 2/7
The state cut spending even as its population grew, causing per person health department spending to drop by 41%, falling faster and further than the rest of the nation. 3/7
Health experts blame the Florida funding cuts on the Great Recession and choices by a series of governors who wanted to move publicly funded state services to for-profit companies. 4/7
Even before the pandemic hit, that meant fewer disease investigators and public health nurses. When COVID-19 came, the state was caught flat-footed when it mattered most. 5/7
Meanwhile, Floridians got mixed messages about masks from political leaders. Voices within health departments were muzzled. Confirmed cases soared past half a million, deaths to more than 10,000. 6/7
“The reality, unfortunately, is people are going to die because of the irresponsibility of the decisions being made by the people crafting the budgets,” said Ron Bialek of @ThePHF. 7/7
Read the story on KHN. 👇khn.org/news/floridas-…
Share this Scrolly Tale with your friends.
A Scrolly Tale is a new way to read Twitter threads with a more visually immersive experience.
Discover more beautiful Scrolly Tales like this.