Christine O’Connell, Cancer Warrior Mom at Seattle Children’s Kick Childhood Cancer Guild, CEO at O’Connell Industries, shared on LinkedIn:
“Yesterday I took my young daughter, a cancer survivor, to an appointment at Seattle Children’s, an appointment we waited five months for. Now I’ve learned Seattle Children’s is laying off 154 employees and eliminating 350 open roles because of major federal and state funding cuts.
Seattle Children’s doesn’t just serve Seattle. It’s a vital resource for families across the Pacific Northwest, especially as rural hospitals and clinics continue to close. When a pediatric hospital of this scale loses funding and staff, access to care suffers. Appointments that already take months will take even longer. That delay can mean missed diagnoses, unmanaged conditions, or worse.
These cuts are not abstract. They hurt children, families, and rural communities who depend on Seattle Children’s as a crucial provider.
Some of these cuts stem from reductions in Medicaid funding, uncertainty about NIH and other federal grants, and programs like Safety Net Assessment that are only guaranteed temporarily. These are policy choices. When leadership underfunds healthcare, science, and safety nets, providers pay the price. Children pay the price.
How long will we have to wait the next time my daughter needs to see her doctors? Will it take six months, eight months, more?”
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