Knoxville, TN (WOKI) The Knox County Health Department is losing federal dollars that funded several initiatives aimed at keeping East Tennesseans healthy.

Department officials announcing Wednesday that its Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity grant was canceled early. Though the money was always meant to be temporary, the department says the early cancellation came as a surprise.

KCHD says the grant “helped fund multiple positions and supported vaccine administration; the public information telephone line; and various outreach and educational opportunities over the past several years.”

The future of the program isn’t entirely clear; KCHD officials say they will be looking for other ways to fund the services.