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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
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Sen.
Salazar Secures Funding for Key Colorado Health, Education Priorities
in Labor-HHS Appropriations Bill
WASHINGTON, DC
– Today, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved the Labor, Health
and Human Services, and Education Appropriations bill for Fiscal Year
2009 (FY09 Labor-HHS-Education bill). At the request of United States
Senator Ken Salazar, the bill contains over $900,000 in funding for
key Colorado health and education priorities.
“Across Colorado
we are seeing rising health care costs hurting hard-working, middle
class families,” said Senator Salazar. “And in rural areas, affordable
health care resources are getting harder and harder to reach. This bill
includes funding that will help families and health care providers across
our state, from ‘Safety Net’ clinics in southwestern Colorado and nursing
programs in the San Luis Valley to mental health providers in Denver.
It also includes funding that will help strengthen programs at Colorado’s
universities so that we can get out front in the global economy.”
The FY09 Labor-HHS-Education
bill, as passed by the Senate Appropriations Committee, contains the
following projects, which were included at the request of Senator Salazar:
- $150,000 for
Adams State College
Center for Nursing Excellence
Location: Alamosa, CO
The funds will go toward the construction of shared facilities for
The Council for Excellence in Health Careers Education, a partnership
between SLV Regional Medical Center, Adams State College, Trinidad
State Junior College and Valley Wide Health Systems.
- $150,000 for
University of Northern Colorado
Institute for Innovation in Education
Location: Greeley, CO
The funds will go toward the establishment of the Center for Excellence
and Innovation in Education. The Center will facilitate the partnership
of educators and the private sector, advance new methodologies and
systems for teaching, and play a focal role in testing and establishing
best practices in education.
- $150,000 for
Colorado State University (CSU) – Pueblo
STEM Programs for Southern Colorado
Location: Pueblo, CO
The funds will be used to expand and enhance science, technology,
engineering and mathematics (STEM) programs at CSU.
- $200,000 for
The Colorado Community Health Network’s Colorado Community Health
Center Health Information Technology
Location: Denver, CO
The funds will be used to pay for the hardware, software, programming
and related costs of acquiring health information technology (HIT)
for six Colorado Community Health Centers (CHCs).
- $150,000 for
Denver Health and Hospital Authority
Denver Health and Hospital Authority Capital Needs
Location: Denver, CO
The funds will go toward the construction of a larger and relocated
adolescent psychiatry unit. Denver Health provides the only inpatient
adolescent psychiatric care in Denver and has over a 90% occupancy
rate.
- $150,000 for
Mercy Health Foundation
Mercy Regional Medical Center- Primary Care “Safety Net” Clinics for
La Plata County
Location: Durango, CO
The funds will be used to equip and build Community Health Clinics
for primary care practitioners and for equipment for a computer network
that will link patient care data to all primary care practices. The
creation of safety net clinics will help the more than 10,000 patients
left without a primary care provider as a result of Valley-Wide Health
Services’ exit from the region in March 2007.
The FY09 Labor-HHS-Education
Appropriations bill will next go before the full Senate for consideration.
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