The healthcare industry leader has responded to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., director of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), firing CDC director Susan Monares less than a month after she played the role.
HHS announced in an August 27th post on X that Monares fired fire. Following the news, four CDC leaders have resigned. Monares initially refused to resign, but the lawyer said the president was the only one who had the authority to dismiss her, but on August 28, the White House named him as the new CDC director with Jim O'Neill, the assistant secretary of HHS.
Healthcare leaders and professional organizations are now warning that layoffs and subsequent resignations threaten the nation's ability to respond to the public health of the United States and the future outbreak.
What the industry is saying. Many major healthcare agencies have issued statements in light of Monares' shootings.
Bobby McCamara, president of the American Medical Association, the country's largest lobbying group for doctors and medical students, said in a statement on August 28 that the move was “very unstable.”
“In the wake of the CDC budget cuts and the end of hundreds of employees earlier this year, the AMA is deeply concerned that this disruption will become highly susceptible to public health threats,” Mukkamara said.
Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, a specialized agency, called on Kennedy to resign, saying “his actions have caused confusion, have demoraleeding staff and put the foundations of our country's health security.”
“What the CDC needs right now is stability, experienced leadership and a steady commitment to science,” Benjamin added in an August 27 release.
A group of eight physician-led professional organisations also united to condemn Monales' shootings. The American College of Physicians, the American Academy of Family Medicine, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Emergency Medicine, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the American Osteopathy Association, the American Psychiatry Association, and the General Internal Medicine Association have issued a joint statement with the CDC's “Turmoil” “Turmoil” “Turmoil” “Turmoil” “Turmoil” “Turmoil” “Turmoil” “Turmoil” “Turmoil” “Turmoil” “Turmoil” “Turmoil” “Turmoil” “Turmoil” “Turmoil” “Turmoil” “Turmoil” “Turmoil” “Turmoil” “Turmoil” “Turmoil” “Turmoil” “Turmoil” “Turmoil” “Turmoil” “Turmoil” “
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“As doctors, we are very concerned that this latest action will take place at the critical start of the flu and respiratory illness season. We should increase access to the vaccine and encourage its use,” the group said, adding that instead received recommendations for a vaccine “confusing” and “contradictory.”
The Association of Schools and Public Health Programs, a trade group representing public schools, issued a statement on August 28th urging Congress to “support the CDC's role as a neutral, science-led institution dedicated solely to protect and promote public health.” The group said the firing and resignation “have at stake the country's ability to effectively respond to ongoing and emerging health threats.”
Additionally, a group of nine former CDC directors and representative directors published an opinion piece in the New York Times on September 1, celebrating Monares for “facing the health of the agency and the community.”
Kennedy hearing. Kennedy faced a Congressional hearing on September 4th, during which the senators questioned his actions since taking over the HHS, including changing vaccine recommendations and firing Monales. During the hearing, Kennedy claimed that he had fired Monares. Because she said she was reportedly “untrusted.”
A day before the hearing, a group of over 1,000 HHS staff, both now and the former, sent letters to Kennedy and Congress calling for resignation.
“We believe health policies should be based on strong, evidence-based principles rather than partisan politics,” staff wrote. “But under Secretary Kennedy's leadership, HHS policies put the health of all Americans at risk, regardless of politics.”
HHS Communications Director Andrew Nixon said in a statement sent to Healthcare Brew that restoring the CDC as “the world's most trusted guardian of public health” would restore “sustainable reforms and more HR changes.”
