The 2025 Operation Border Health event won't be happening, state officials confirmed to Channel 5 News.

Because of cuts to federal funding, this year, county leaders made the decision to cancel the event.

"Obviously we're very disappointed in that," Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez said. "We're a county that arguably has a high percentage of poverty, and this is one of the ways that we could address their health care needs."

The weeklong event was set to offer free health care services to the public in South Texas locations in all four Rio Grande Valley counties, as well as in Laredo.

In the past, the event offered vaccines, dental, vision, hearing tests, and medical exams.

During Operation border Health 2024, Hidalgo County saw 2,500 people at their San Juan site.

On Tuesday, Hidalgo County announced the event was cancelled “in response to recent funding cuts and a reduction in the local workforce.”

On Monday, Cameron County announced a similar cancellation. By Tuesday, at noon, the Texas Department of State Health Services confirmed Operation Border Health was cancelled at all sites.

“We've had some discussions amongst ourselves to see if we can find some alternative funding sources for us to be able to do it, I mean certainly not at the size that it once was,” Cortez said.

The federally funded Public Health Emergency Preparedness Program — which provides funding to health departments across the Valley, saw a 28% decrease in funding this year. 

The program helps run Operation Border Health.

In Cameron County, the cuts totaled more than $100,000 that is used to pay staff.

“That is my team that puts together this event, and so I lost 1/3 of my program — along with some cuts that we had back in March — that were part of that team, I have a very small program at this point to help me oversee this,” Cameron County Health Administrator Esmeralda Guajardo said.

Guajardo said they now have four fewer employees in the Public Health Emergency Preparedness Program.

“It's probably one of the most difficult points in my public health career, and I’ve been here for a long time, to turn around to have to tell people that we can't help them,” Guajardo said.

Guajardo said the recent funding cuts could be returned at the end of the year.

“There's so much uncertainty,” Guajardo said.  

Channel 5 News reached out to the state to learn more about the cuts. In a statement, DSHS said Operation Border Health in South Texas has been postponed indefinitely due to health department partners not having the resources they need.

Watch the video above for the full story.