Pa.'s public health nurses endured decades of budget cuts

Their job was to fight diseases. Stationed throughout Pennsylvania, state public health nurses worked in the background as our early warning system, tracking whenever someone became infected and helping ensure an isolated case didn’t become an outbreak. But that was never the only fight on their hands.

For decades, they endured budget cuts, political battles, and a major state Supreme Court case, all while watching their ranks dwindle and morale suffer. Now, they are a critical component to reopening the state.

But only a skeleton crew remains.