HHS MOVES FORWARD WITH SIGNIFICANT STAFF CHANGES AND RESTRUCTURING
On April 1, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya began his tenure as the 18th Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). His first day was defined by the news of a reduction in force (RIF) across NIH and the loss of several esteemed Institute and Center leaders including the directors of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities and the National Institute of Nursing Research. Last week, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced its restructuring plan, which stated that NIH would decrease its workforce by approximately 1,200 employees by centralizing procurement, human resources, and communications across its 27 institutes and centers.
The RIFs and layoffs were not limited to NIH. On Tuesday, other agencies at HHS, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration, also enacted significant RIFs. HHS stated that as part of the restructuring, 28 divisions have been consolidated into 15, while HHS’ 10 regional offices have been reduced to 5 offices.
Following Tuesday’s actions, Senate HELP Committee Chair Bill Cassidy, MD (R-LA) and Ranking Member Bernie Sanders (I-VT) invited Secretary Kennedy to testify at a hearing on April 10 entitled, “An Update on the Restructuring of the Department of Health and Human Services.” In response to the fast-moving changes announced by HHS, our office has been (and will continue) working with leaders across Duke University and Duke Health to respond to concerns about funding and share impacts with Congress on how the changes are impacting work across Duke.
