‘Wasteful’? Doctors Call It Essential
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by Don Thompson
November 6, 2025
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6 min
6 Key Takeaways
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1
Hospital Preparedness Program established post-9/1
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Program funding totals nearly $
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2 billion in 17 years.
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4
Critical for managing bird flu outbreak and other crises.
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States express concerns over potential funding cuts.
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Funding is essential for local health infrastructure and response capability.
The proposed elimination of the Hospital Preparedness Program by President Trump threatens crucial funding for emergency health systems across the U.S. Established after the 2001 terrorist attacks, this program has allocated approximately $2.2 billion to enhance disaster readiness for pandemics and large-scale emergencies. With states like Texas receiving over $20 million this year, local health officials express concern that cutting this federal support would severely weaken their ability to handle crises, as it is the primary funding source for health care disaster preparedness.
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