|
|
U.S. Senator
Ken Salazar
Member: Finance, Agriculture, Energy, Ethics and Aging Committees
2300 15th
Street, Suite 450 Denver, CO
80202 | 702 Hart Senate Building, Washington, D.C.
20510
|
|
Sen.
Salazar Announces Early Project Funding for Health Care and Education
Projects in Colorado
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Late
last week, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved the Labor-HHS-Education
Appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2008 (FY08 Labor-HHS bill). Contained
in the bill was more than $1.7 million in funding for Colorado projects,
requested by United States Senator Ken Salazar.
“These projects
will make immediate differences in the quality of life for Colorado
families,” said Senator Salazar. “I am pleased that
the Committee approved this assistance for Colorado, and am confident
the communities and facilities benefiting will make excellent use of
these funds.”
The Colorado projects slated
for funding at the request of Senator Salazar are:
- $200,000 for
Mercy Health Foundation in La Plata County to expand its
primary care and prevention services for the elderly, children and
underserved, filling a major gap left by the departure of Valley Wide;
- $200,000 for
Denver Health in Denver, the only major trauma center in
Denver to care for the majority of low-income and uninsured individuals
in Denver, to immediately expand and upgrade their facility;
- $100,000 for
the Health District of Northern Larimer County to help build
a Combined Services Center in Larimer County for mental and substance
abuse treatment services. Currently, admissions to Larimer County’s
“Detox Unit” are growing at a rate of five to 10 percent each year,
straining the County’s budget and facilities;
- $100,000 for
St. Joseph’s Hospital in Denver
to help cover operating expenses, purchase diagnostic equipment and
conduct educational outreach for its Mobile Mammography Program, which
has screened over 3,000 uninsured women for breast cancer;
- $200,000 for
the San Luis Valley Regional Medical Center in Alamosa to
help purchase software for its information technology system upgrade,
which will improve patient care in its pharmacy, laboratory, radiology
and nursing departments;
- $150,000 for
the Northwest Colorado Visiting Nurse Association in Steamboat Springs
to help pay for capital improvements (including operating costs, equipment
purchases and furnishings) for primary care facilities in Walden,
Hayden, and Craig;
- $50,000 for Aims
Community College in Greeley
to purchase equipment for its new Allied Health and Science learning
facility, which will help train students in fields with a high demand
for health professionals. Between 2003 and 2006, Aims increased its
degree and certificate programs in allied health fields from one to
six in an effort to meet local and state demands;
- $200,000 for
The Children’s Hospital in Denver
to help with its re-location from downtown to the redevelopment at
the former Fitzsimons Army Medical Campus in Aurora;
- $300,000 for
CU Health Sciences Center in Denver to establish a Linda
Crnic Institute for Research and Treatment of Down Syndrome (LCI)
on the Anschutz Campus in Aurora, and to attract faculty who will
focus on the full spectrum, from basic research, clinical research,
clinical care and treatment of children, adolescents and adults with
Down’s Syndrome at the state, regional and National level; and
- $200,000 for
the Colorado School of Mines in Golden to develop the Mine
Safety and Rescue through Sensing Networks and Robotics Technology
(Mine-SENTRY) system for mining safety applications, focusing on sensors
and sensor networks, improving mine communications and predicting
and reducing the risks and hazards of mining operations.
Having been approved by
the full Senate Appropriations Committee, the FY08 Labor-HHS appropriations
bill now goes on to the full Senate for debate.
# # #
|