by Michael Howell
Last Wednesday the Director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Jayanta Bhattacharya, NIH Chief Operating Officer (COO) Eric Schnabel, and several other NIH officials paid a short visit to Rocky Mountain Laboratory in Hamilton. According to Dr. Marshall Bloom, RML Associate Director in NIADS Division of Intramural Research, this was the first visit to RML by an NIH Director since Dr. Harold Varmus visited in April of 1995.
A couple dozen Bitterroot valley residents showed up at the RML campus on the day of the visit to show support for the scientists and others employed at the laboratory, expressing alarm at the cuts that have already been made in the Lab’s programs accompanied by a reduction in workforce that is ongoing.
Many of the demonstrators showed up at the call of Bitterroot Indivisible organizers Bill and Becky Peters.
“We’re here because we know how critical this Lab is not only for Hamilton people and the Bitterroot area, but to the rest of the world because they have saved so many millions of lives with what they’ve done,” said Bill Peters on Wednesday, as reported by KPAX. “We just want everybody to know how important this is. Especially the workers because they don’t know what’s happening, they don’t know what cuts are going to come, they don’t know who has to go. I think it’s sad.”
Bill Peters, at left, and Becky Peters, at right, with Indivisible Bitterroot, helped coordinate a show of support for workers at Rocky Mountain Lab in Hamilton during a visit from the head of the National Institutes of Health. RML is one of a number of federal agencies and institutions that have been affected by reductions in workforce due to DOGE. Photo by Scott Sacry.
According to KPAX, Bloom told the gathering, “Most of you have known me for a long time, and you know that my philosophy is always to build bridges, not burn bridges, and that’s what we hope to accomplish with this visit.”
In March, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a dramatic restructuring in accordance with President Trump’s Executive Order, “Implementing the President’s ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ Workforce Optimization Initiative.”
The press release stated, “First, it will save taxpayers $1.8 billion per year through a reduction in workforce of about 10,000 full-time employees who are part of this most recent transformation. When combined with HHS’ other efforts, including early retirement and Fork in the Road, the restructuring results in a total downsizing from 82,000 to 62,000 full-time employees.” As part of this effort, NIH was slated to decrease its workforce by approximately 1,200 employees by centralizing procurement, human resources, and communications across its 27 institutes and centers. RML did not go untouched and over a dozen scientists and other employees have already lost their jobs.
“We aren’t just reducing bureaucratic sprawl. We are realigning the organization with its core mission and our new priorities in reversing the chronic disease epidemic,” HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. was quoted saying in the press release. “This Department will do more – a lot more – at a lower cost to the taxpayer.”
“Over time, bureaucracies like HHS become wasteful and inefficient even when most of their staff are dedicated and competent civil servants,” Secretary Kennedy said. “This overhaul will be a win-win for taxpayers and for those that HHS serves. That’s the entire American public, because our goal is to Make America Healthy Again.”
NIH’s new director, Dr. Battacharya, was very critical of NIH’s response to the Covid-19 epidemic and co-authored a treatise at the time which called for allowing the coronavirus to spread naturally to achieve herd immunity.
In a note to RML’s Community Liaison Group, Dr. Bloom stated that the purpose of Bhattacharya and his entourage’s visit was to demonstrate NIH executive level commitment to RML and recognize RML’s role in the NIH’s mission. They were provided with overviews of RML history and current research areas and met with the three Lab Chiefs – Lab of Virology, the Lab of Bacteriology, and Lab of Neurological Infections and Immunity.
A couple shows their support for Rocky Mountain Laboratories at a demonstration last week on the day of a visit from the Director of the National Institutes of Health, of which RML is a part. Photo by Scott Sacry.
“All three did a terrific job showcasing the science in their labs,” stated Bloom.
The group was able to tour the RML campus including the new vivarium, the electron microscopy facility, the lab corridor side of Building 25, and the Intensive Rehabilitation Facility. Additional meetings were held with RML safety, biosafety, facilities, emergency response, and security staff.
Bloom noted that “because the meeting was limited to a single day, Dr. Bhattacharya did not have an opportunity to meet all of the principal investigators but had a very productive session with our trainees.”
“All of the meetings were positive and interactive, and the Director was very interested in and supportive of our research programs,” said Bloom. “The entire visit was extremely successful and both Dr. Bhattacharya and Mr. Schnabel are eager to visit again.”