By Colin Mixson
New York Daily News
WASHINGTON — Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert Kennedy Jr . has agreed to lift a hiring freeze at the World Trade Center Health Program, restoring the compensation fund for 9/11 survivors and first responders to full staff for the first time in more than a year.
Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R- New York ) confirmed the program, which administers compensation to nearly 140,000 Americans, has been approved to hire 37 new employees, alleviating a staff shortage that sees the fund currently operating at only 69% capacity.
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“This is real progress for the 9/11 community,” Garbarino said in a statement. “More staff means better access to care, shorter wait times, and stronger support for those still living with the health impacts of that day. This is about making sure those who answered the call on September 11th get the care they have earned.”
Since taking over the HHS and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Kennedy has authorized drastic cuts to the WTC Health Program personnel, as well as the firing of program head Dr. John Howard, which was reversed last year after lawmakers from both sides of the aisle sounded the alarm.
The rare reversal from the Trump administration saw Kennedy restore two research grants and the jobs of 16 employees. When Kennedy testified before Congress last year and was questioned about his decisions, he admitted the firings were “a mistake.”
In March, staffers at the World Trade Center Health Program, at the time down 25%, were reassigned to work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Indian Health Service.
Currently, WTC Health program remains deeply understaffed with only 83 employees — more than 30% less than the 120 it’s budgeted for — and Garbarino in March joined seven other Congress members in writing to Kennedy demanding answers.
“These staffing shortfalls have coincided with widespread delays in treatment authorizations, backlogs in claims processing, disruptions in continuity of care and reduced oversight of contractors,” the letter read.
The 9/11 health program has seen nearly 30,000 new 9/11 responders and survivors join in the last three years, with an additional 10,000 new enrollees expected this year, according to Citizens for the Extension of the James Zadroga Act.
“A year ago, Secretary Kennedy was firing World Trade Center Health Program staff, then hiring them back then firing other program staff until he admitted it was all a ‘mistake’ and hired them back again,” said Benjamin Chevat, executive director of Citizens for the Extension of the James Zadroga Act. “Now a year later he is finally letting the program fill the staff vacancies that the program was blocked from filling — so this is progress.”
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