Last December Cincinnati City Council voted to stop its portion of funding for the city’s school nurse program, citing deficits. The program costs $3.5 million annually, with $2 million coming from the city. In an effort to save it, the Greater Cincinnati Health Foundation has proposed a revamped version that would replace some registered nurses with school health assistants.  

The latest round of state budget cuts literally is a matter of life and death to some of the people affected. More than 5,000 people use the Ohio HIV Drug Assistance Program (ODAP) to get expensive life-saving medications that treat HIV. Recent government belt-tightening, however, has led to a first-time waiting list and other major cost containment measures for the 20-year-old program.