The reassignment of a trusted doctor out of Santa Clara County’s Black Infant Health Program has sparked concern for future efforts combating baby mortality. It’s also exposing the tense balancing act of absorbing a massive county budget hole without cutting services.

County officials are moving Dr. Beverley White-Macklin, who has for decades developed a program guiding Black mothers through potentially complicated pregnancies, to another public health role. It’s part of a broader effort to puzzle-piece staff between departments and absorb a systemic budget deficit. But the shakeup has former leaders of the program, and mothers who participated, raising alarms.

“There are so many women who went through this program because they trusted and knew Dr. Bev and any of the referrals she gave.

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