The United States Ministry of Health and Social Services will reduce around 10,000 full-time jobs and close half of its regional offices, he declared a major overhaul of the department under secretary on Thursday Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
The latest job cuts and around 10,000 recent volunteers will reduce the number of full -time employees in the department to 62,000 to 82,000, the ministry said.
“We are not only reducing bureaucratic sprawl. We realign the organization with its main mission and our new priorities in the inversion of the chronic disease epidemic,” Kennedy said in a statement.
US President Donald Trump and billionaire Ally Elon Musk, who oversees the DOGE cost reduction initiative, victim of agencies as part of an effort to reduce federal bureaucracy.
The HHS plan is to cut 3,500 full -time employees at Food and Drug Administration, the ministry said in an information sheet by breaking down the cuts, adding that cuts would not affect inspectors or medicines, medical devices or food examinators.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will see 2,400 reduced employees and the administration for strategic preparation and response, currently an independent HHS agency with 1,000 employees, has participated.
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The National Institutes for Health will see a reduction of 1,200 employees in its 27 institutes and centers, depending on the rupture. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services were relatively spared with a reduction of around 300 people.
As part of the restructuring, 28 units in the department will be consolidated in 15 new divisions, including a new “administration for a healthy America” or AHA.
The AHA will combine offices in the HHS which approach dependence, toxic substances and professional security, among others, in a single central office, the agency said.
The new units will also centralize functions such as external affairs, human resources and IT.
