"But the shakeup has former leaders of the program, and mothers who participated, raising alarms. "There are so many women who went through this program because they trusted and knew Dr. Bev and any of the referrals she gave. Putting someone in there they don't know - it will be like starting over again," Alma Burrell, who formerly managed the program as a county employee for two decades, told San José Spotlight."
"County officials said she is retaining her seniority at the Public Health Department and her level of compensation, though the department is making reassignments to grapple with a budget-balancing plan the Board of Supervisors approved earlier this year. The Black Infant Health Program will keep three program managers. District 4 Supervisor Susan Ellenberg said the county has hard choices ahead. It's staring down the barrel of a massive budget shortfall fueled by slow property tax revenue growth and as much as $4.4 billion in federal funding losses come 2030."
Dr. Beverley White-Macklin, who developed a program guiding Black mothers through complicated pregnancies, has been reassigned out of Santa Clara County's Black Infant Health Program. County officials are moving staff between public health roles to absorb a systemic budget deficit and implement a Board-approved budget-balancing plan. The Black Infant Health Program will retain three program managers while White-Macklin keeps her seniority and compensation. Former program leaders and participating mothers warn that replacing a trusted physician could disrupt trust, delay prenatal engagement, and worsen chronic disease presentation and infant mortality outcomes among Black mothers. Supervisors cite looming revenue slowdowns and potential federal funding losses by 2030.
Read at San Jose Spotlight
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