ARTICLE SUMMARY: The Will County Health Department is requesting an additional $1 million in county funding for its 2026 budget to prevent the elimination of 11 critical staff positions, warning that expiring grants will otherwise lead to significant cuts in core public health services.
Key Points:
• Due to expiring COVID-era and other non-recurring grants, the department faces a nearly $1 million funding shortfall from the loss of ARPA funds and grants for respiratory surveillance and workforce development.
• The request aims to retain 11 of 15 at-risk positions in mandated programs, including maternal-child health, immunizations, and communicable disease investigation.
• Without the funding, officials said services like the homebound vaccination program and school-based immunization clinics would be eliminated, and the department’s ability to respond to disease outbreaks would be halved.

JOLIET – The Will County Health Department is facing a nearly $1 million budget shortfall due to expiring grants, prompting officials to ask the County Board for a $1 million lifeline to save 11 critical positions and prevent a significant reduction in core public health services.

During a presentation to the Will County Board’s Finance Committee on Tuesday, health department leaders detailed how the end of COVID-related funding and other non-recurring grants threatens to dismantle a workforce that was expanded to meet recent public health crises.

“The pandemic showed what a stronger public health system could look like,” said Elizabeth Bilotta of the Will County Health Department, quoting a national health official. “Public health threats aren’t going away. They are returning… to an even more weakened system just as chronic health challenges, opioid overdoses, maternal health issues, and future outbreaks demand more, not less, of our local public health workforce.”

The $1 million request is intended to be built into the county’s Fiscal Year 2026 budget. The funds would retain 11 of 15 at-risk employees in four key areas: maternal-child health, immunizations, communicable disease investigation, and the HIV/STI program. Officials stressed that these are mandated services the department, as a certified local health department, is required to provide.

Sylvia Munes, a master’s prepared nurse with the department, provided emotional testimony about the real-world impact of these programs. She described how a nurse in the Better Birth Outcomes program, which serves high-risk pregnant women and infants, helped a mother recognize a lack of fetal movement, leading to an emergency C-section that saved a baby whose umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck.

“If mom had not paid attention to her body, if she had not been receiving that support from the nurse, this could have very well resulted in a demise and a death for this family,” Munes said.

Without the requested funding, officials warned the impact would be severe. The nursing staff for the immunization program would be cut in half, eliminating the homebound vaccination program and school-based clinics that recently helped hundreds of students in Joliet School District 86 and Plainfield meet vaccination requirements.

The communicable disease investigation team would also lose four investigators, halving its ability to conduct contact tracing and surveillance for outbreaks.

Board members expressed concern over the potential cuts while acknowledging the county’s longstanding practice of eliminating positions when grant funding ends.

“This is going to be a big deviation if we go this route from our normal process,” said Board Member Jacqueline Traynere. “We do not keep projects when the grant money goes, the project goes, and that includes the employees.”

However, Traynere added, “I really want to find the million dollars… you’ve certainly presented a really good case here for what you need and why you need it.”

The Finance Committee took no action on the request, which was informational, but the discussion will continue as the county begins its 2026 budget process.