Health department requests bigger budget

After two years of reductions, the Mississippi State Department of Health is requesting a modest budget increase for the coming year.
The state health officer, Dr. Mary Currier, says the department has cut expenses by going from nine administrative districts to three, but she tells lawmakers Wednesday that the change has made management difficult and six districts would be the ideal solution.
The state-supported part of the health department budget was $62 million last year and is down to $57 million this year. Currier is requesting an increase of $3.4 million.
Senate Appropriations Chairman Eugene Clark says he will consider the request because the health department “got cut deeply in the last two years.”