The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors on May 4 accepted almost $60 million in state funding to improve and expand the epidemiology and laboratory capacity of Sacramento County Public Health.
Funds will be used to add staff, purchase equipment upgrades, improve information sharing abilities with other laboratories, and generally strengthen the Public Health Department’s capacity to fight COVID-19 and other infectious diseases.
With the vote, the county can now execute a revenue agreement with the state of California Department of Public Health in the amount of $59,781,149. Funding is retroactive to March 2021, and will last through July 2023.
The Sacramento County Public Health (SCPH) Division has been working around the clock since the beginning of the pandemic. SCPH has supported testing at 11 community sites, maintained teams to perform contact investigation and testing, rolled out community-wide vaccination clinics, provided public guidance on Health Officer Orders and state guidelines, and contracted with community agencies to provide support to families impacted by COVID-19.
Additional funds are expected to help support community vaccination efforts.