Since February, about a quarter of workers at HRSA — including analysts, auditors, scientists, grant managers, and nursing consultants — have left, according to a KFF Health News analysis.

The agency, headquartered in a nondescript gray-and-glass office building tucked into side streets in Rockville, Maryland, employed about 2,700 staffers in early 2025. Employees worked behind the scenes to manage and monitor thousands of projects nationwide that fund primary health providers, HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention, maternal and child care programs, rural hospitals, and workforce training.

On the ground, HRSA’s grants have helped create telehealth initiatives for mothers in rural New Mexico, funded workforce training for Indigenous nurses in South Dakota, and supported Healthy Start programs for expectant mothers and babies in places like rural Georgia.

Carole Johnson, who previously led the Health Resources and Services Administration described the sweeping staff cuts as a “big threat” to the agency’s ability to distribute billions of dollars in grants to hospitals, clinics, nonprofits, and other organizations nationwide.