Kate Pfirman, DPH chief financial officer, discussed changes to the department's budget at the Board of Public Health meeting.

With the goal of serving the people of the state of Georgia at the forefront, the Department of Public Health is looking at ways to reduce funding while remaining effective and efficient. Continuing with "business as usual" is not an option.

In budget instructions received in July, the state's CFO, Debbie Dlugolenski Alford, indicated the state's economic outlook was cautiously optimistic. However, she noted the state must continue to focus on meeting the basic needs of a growing state and be fiscally conservative while also planning for contingencies if revenues fail to grow as projected. For that reason, each agency was instructed to submit a budget reduction plan of 3 percent of its state general funds for AFY13 and FY14. Additionally, agencies were encouraged to make the most efficient use of limited resources by including reductions that are targeted and strategic and to avoid broad, across the board reductions.

Last week, members of the Board of Public Health heard from the department's CFO, Kate Pfirman, on DPH's reduction plan of 3 percent ($5.6 million) from the budget over AFY13 and FY14. The process of trimming the budget will begin with administration costs.  

"What we're going to be doing is looking at our business processes, looking at how we use information technology, ways to be more efficient and ways to be more effective," Pfirman told the board.

When DPH became a stand-alone agency in 2011, everyone and everything, including budgets, went with it to ensure a smooth transition. In the words of DPH Commissioner Brenda Fitzgerald, M.D., "It is time to transform the department."

There are some state fund savings to be found in programs that can be federally funded. In other cases, DPH plans to cut back or eliminate programs that only serve a small area or individual county. DPH ensured reductions were not made to programs important to initiatives in its strategic plan such as tobacco cessation, prevention of childhood obesity, prevention of infant mortality and increase in childhood immunization rates. During the process of drafting the necessary reductions, Pfirman and her team reached out to district health directors and to the public for input and recommendations.

"These are targeted reductions instead of years gone by when there may have been 3 percent spread across the board to programs," Pfirman said.

Pfirman assured board members that DPH will carry out its mission to serve the people of Georgia as it works through the budget process. DPH will continue to look for new funding sources, including grants not previously available, strengthening ties to academics and research and seeking private partnerships.

-Story by Nancy Nydam, DPH Communications