WOODSTOCK – A plea by the McHenry County Department of Health to undo a 25 percent cut to its breast and cervical cancer screening program for this fiscal year squeaked by the County Board.

Board members voted Tuesday to restore $40,000 in funding for the remaining six weeks of the 2011 fiscal year. The 17-5 vote was just one vote more than the two-thirds needed to amend the present year’s budget. The County Board, which in previous years has contributed $158,000 to the program, cut it back to $118,000 this year to help balance the county budget.

Had the funding not been restored, Public Health Administrator Patrick McNulty said, the health department would not have been able to screen women until the Dec. 1 start of the 2012 fiscal year.