The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) received $5.5 billion in FY 2023-24 overall, down $1.6 billion from $7.1 billion in FY 2022-23, but this reflects decreases in areas that aren’t specifically tech. (All numbers are rounded.) Among the areas where CDPH is set to receive less money this fiscal year is any allotment from the California Emergency Relief Fund, from which it received $1.3 billion in FY 2021-22 and $1.5 billion in FY 2022-23. It receives zero in FY 2023-24. The department will also receive just under $1 billion from the General Fund, down from $1.4 billion in FY 2022-23. Both areas could reflect changes in attitudes and funding priorities toward the COVID-19 pandemic; President Joe Biden called an end to the COVID-19 national emergency in April. The department, a bulwark in health statewide, should still make considerable headway in IT over the next 12 months. Projects for which it received funding include:
- $915,000 for the California Immunization Registry and three positions, the result of the passage of Assembly Bill 1797, from Assemblymember Dr. Akilah Weber, D-San Diego, which changed how health information is disclosed and used. Per an Assembly analysis, the new law requires “instead of permits, existing information collected for purposes of immunization information systems to be shared with local health departments” and CDPH. It also includes a patient’s or client’s race or ethnicity in the list of information that must be disclosed from a medical record “for purposes of immunization information systems.” It expands, generally, the purposes for the use of this information. In its recounting of budget highlights, CDPH indicated the funding and positions will go to manage the increased workload generated by the bill.
- $900,000 for COVID-19 Website Information Technology Resources. Per the department’s budget highlights, this will support security and translation services to optimize maintenance of its COVID-19 website.
- $563,000 for California Integrated Vital Records System Upgrades for Death Certificate Content. The result of Newsom’s signing of AB 2436 from Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, D-Orinda, the bill would bring changes to how death certificate information is recorded. It would require the State Registrar to electronically capture information on the parents’ relationship to the deceased person as well as any other last names the parents might have used. This information wouldn’t be transcribed onto an actual hard copy of the death certificate. The bill, which Newsom signed at the end of September, gives the State Registrar until July 1, 2024, to make those changes.
- The department is approved for 5,084 positions overall, a slight increase from 5,035 in FY 2022-23. This includes the addition of one Health Education Consultant II and two Information Technology Associates to assist with the immunization registry.
