The looming threat of deeper state budget cuts could spell trouble for one of West Virginia's public health agencies, which is already pushing the limits of its funding after years of cutbacks.
The West Virginia Poison Center, which operates a 24/7 hotline and performs education and outreach to hospitals and the public, runs with a "bare bones" staff, according to Carissa McBurney, community outreach coordinator for the center. McBurney is herself a part-time employee, responsible for conducting community education in all 55 counties ever year on a budget of roughly $10,000.
"We run at bare-bones capacity - it's always staffed by a nurse, doctor or pharmacist. Currently, all of our phone staffing is handled by nurses. We couldn't cut any positions or we wouldn't be open," she said. "Staffing is basically at a bare minimum right now - there's no way we could cut anyone to absorb the costs."
The West Virginia Legislature adjourned the 2016 regular session on March 15, and for the first time since 2009, legislators ended a regular session without approving a state budget. The Legislature has a drop-dead deadline of June 30 to get the 2016-17 spending plan passed, and lawmakers will return to Charleston later this spring for a special session to address the shortfall.
That special session could result in another across-the-board cut similar to the 4 percent cut West Virginia University absorbed for the poison center earlier this fiscal year. WVU, which houses the poison center, will likely have to suffer more cuts of its own, and it's unclear whether the institution will be able to continue to bail out the poison center, according to Elizabeth Scharman, director of the center and pharmacy professor at WVU.
"Fortunately, this year they were able to absorb those costs for us," Scharman said. "If the things they're talking about with this budget impasse go through - adding another 6 percent cut to state agencies - that would equal a lot of money for us, and we don't have any guarantees that the university, which is also cut, could absorb that. Without an additional funding source, making it to 2017 might be difficult."
The bulk of the poison center's funding comes from the state - 73 percent of the agency's budget is appropriated by the Legislature. Another 17 percent comes from hospitals that use the poison center's services, 9 percent comes from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration, and 1 percent is funded through WVU.
In order to continue operating as an accredited poison center, the West Virginia Poison Center must remain open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, McBurney said. The center took more than 35,000 calls in 2014, including 19,000 poison exposure calls and 16,000 informational calls, and made 23,000 follow-up calls; about 25 percent of its calls are from hospitals.
Losing any of the funding they have right now could pose a serious problem - the center's HRSA funding is contingent on it receiving enough state funding, McBurney said, and it would be difficult for the center to find alternate funding that wouldn't require it to take on more work.
"A lot of grants would require us to take on more outreach or responsibilities, and with our staffing as it is now, that's not possible," McBurney said. "It would be dependent on whether we could find another funding source that fits with us."
Every state is currently covered by a poison control center, but not every state has its own - some smaller states are covered by regional poison centers. For West Virginia, joining a regional center might not be an option, as most are already stretched thin with their own coverage and would be hard-pressed to absorb West Virginia's call volume with the level of federal funding it receives.
"At this point, it wouldn't be possible, without state funding, for another poison center to take calls for West Virginia - there would be no one to cover poison calls for the state," she said.
Reach Lydia Nuzum at lydia.nuzum@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-5189 or follow @lydianuzum on Twitter.