FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, November 01, 2002
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Health and Human Services
HHS Press Office
(202) 690-6343 |
HHS Announces Creation of Medical Reserve Corps Units |
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Grants To 42 Community Groups Will Support New Volunteer Medical Response Teams
Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson announced 42
grants totaling $2 million to community-based organizations to begin
building local Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) units that will help local
communities prepare and respond in the event of a public health
emergency.
The local MRC units are comprised of local citizens, volunteers who
are trained to respond to health crises. The volunteers' responsibilities
will include emergency response, logistical planning, records keeping,
assisting in public health and awareness campaigns, and public
communications.
"The Medical Reserve Corps gives Americans an opportunity to help out
in their community. All of us have talents and skills and there is no
better place to use those talents then in service to the local community,"
Secretary Thompson said. "These awards will help empower our communities
to plan and establish local citizen-centered volunteer Medical Reserve
Corps units which will include not only physicians and nurses but also a
broad range of skills in health and other fields."
"The USA Freedom Corps was created to enable more Americans to make a
difference in their communities," said John Bridgeland, Assistant to the
President for USA Freedom Corps. "Through the Medical Reserve Corps,
health care professionals will have new opportunities to contribute to
the safety and well-being of their communities through their volunteer
service."
Each local MRC unit will be established, activated, and operated by the
local community, in concert with established emergency response and public
health systems. They will be an important additional resource to address
health problems that a local community might incur because of a natural
disaster or other catastrophic event. In addition, volunteers may help
with local health campaigns—such as immunizations—and health
education and awareness in the community throughout the year.
The MRC initiative will provide the local organizational framework,
including training, locally agreed procedures and processes, and partnership
building among local organizations, including local government agencies,
and non-governmental organizations (e.g., faith-based groups, hospitals,
health professions organizations, the American Red Cross, academic
institutions and others).
President Bush, in his State of the Union address in January 2002,
announced that he was launching the USA Freedom Corps to foster an American
culture of citizenship, service, and responsibility. He formed the
Citizen Corps initiative, of which the MRC is a part, to give individuals
the opportunity to serve their neighbors by making our communities safe
from threats of all kinds.
The Medical Reserve Corps is led by the Office of the Surgeon General
in HHS. For more information including, the MRC guidance document
"Medical Reserve Corps - A Guide for Local Leaders," information on
training resources, and the monthly MRC newsletter please log onto
www.medicalreservecorps.gov
or call the Office of the Surgeon General at (301) 443-4000.
A list of the grantees follows:
Grantee |
Location |
Amount |
Department of Health and Human Services |
Anchorage, AK |
$50,000 |
Volunteer Center of Maricopa County |
Phoenix, AZ |
50,000 |
Volunteer Center of Tucson |
Tucson, AZ |
50,000 |
City of Fresno |
Fresno, CA |
49,546 |
Morgan Hill Police Dept. |
Morgan Hill, CA |
41,830 |
Self-Help for the Elderly |
San Francisco, CA |
50,000 |
Larimer County Dept. of Health and Environment |
Fort Collins, CO |
50,000 |
Yale New Haven Health System |
New Haven, CT |
50,000 |
Delaware Health and Social Services |
Dover, DE |
47,240 |
Broward Emergency Management Agency |
Fort Lauderdale, FL |
50,000 |
Lee County Health Dept. |
Fort Myers, FL |
50,000 |
Florida Dept. of Health, Pasco County |
New Port Richey, FL |
50,000 |
Dekalb Co. Board of Health |
Decatur, GA |
50,000 |
Kane County Health Dept. |
Geneva, IL |
50,000 |
Dept. of Public Health |
Oak Park, IL |
49,500 |
American Red Cross of Central Illinois |
Peoria, IL |
48,421 |
Winnebago County Health Dept. |
Rockford, IL |
50,000 |
Marion County Health Dept. |
Indianapolis, IN |
50,000 |
Shawnee County Health Agency |
Topeka, KS |
50,000 |
Louisville/Jefferson County Emergency Management Agency |
Louisville, KY |
50,000 |
Institute for Human Services and Public Policy; Louisiana State University |
Shreveport, LA |
50,000 |
Fairview Hospital |
Great Barrington, MA |
50,000 |
Church of the Nazarene |
South Dennis, MA |
50,000 |
Western Maryland Area Health Education Center |
Cumberland, MD |
50,000 |
Franklin Memorial Hospital |
Farmington, ME |
46,364 |
Hennipin County Community Health Dept. |
Minneapolis, MN |
50,000 |
Metropolitan Planning Organization Mid-America Regional Council |
Kansas City, MO |
50,000 |
Citizen Corps Council of Yellowstone County |
Billings, MT |
50,000 |
Bayonne Medical Center |
Bayonne, NJ |
49,019 |
County of Middlesex New Jersey |
New Brunswick, NJ |
50,000 |
Bergen County Dept. of Health |
Paramus, NJ |
50,000 |
Clark County Health District |
Las Vegas, NV |
50,000 |
Broome County Health Dept. |
Binghamton, NY |
50,000 |
Nassau County Dept. of Health |
Mineola, NY |
50,000 |
Livingston County Dept. of Health |
Mt. Morris, NY |
36,900 |
Northern Metropolitan Health Care Foundation |
Newburgh, NY |
50,000 |
Tulsa Project Impact Foundation |
Tulsa, OK |
50,000 |
Lane County Medical Society |
Eugene, OR |
50,000 |
Multnomah County Health Dept. |
Portland, OR |
50,000 |
Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology |
Lancaster, PA |
50,000 |
Harris Co. Hospital District |
Houston, TX |
50,000 |
Southwestern Vermont Health Care |
Bennington, VT |
50,000 |
Total of Grant Awards |
$2,068,820 |
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Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are available at
www.hhs.gov/news.
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