Virginia could lose 50% of its community health workers by July 1

Public records requests show the front-line workers face a perilous funding cliff.
Virginia is set to lose about 60 Community Health Workers employed at local health districts by July 1, 2024. More than 25 additional workers will follow in the year after that. There are 112 CHWs employed at 25 of Virginia’s 35 health districts as of July 2023.

The revelation comes from internal Virginia Department of Health documents, which name the federal grants that fund the positions and when they end. VPM News/WMRA obtained the documents through public records requests.

Community Health Workers are on-the-ground public health workers who come from within the communities they serve. Their work has been essential in COVID-19 vaccination efforts, opioid-overdose reversal training, STI prevention and many other initiatives in Virginia.

Health department documents show it would cost about $5.7 million to fund all 112 positions for a year. Gov. Glenn Youngkin released his budget for the next two years on Wednesday, which did not include funding for Community Health Workers.

The funding cliff has left health districts scrambling to find money for jobs many districts cite as essential to gains they’ve made since the COVID-19 pandemic.