U.S. Senator Ken Salazar

Member of the Agriculture, Energy and Veterans Affairs Committees

 

2300 15th Street, Suite 450 Denver, CO 80202 | 702 Hart Senate Building, Washington, D.C. 20510

 

 

For Immediate Release

October 23, 2007

CONTACT:Stephanie Valencia – 202-228-3630
Cody Wertz 303-350-0032

 

 UPDATE: Appropriations Bill Passes
in Senate; Sen. Salazar Announces Funding for Health Care and Education Projects in Colorado

WASHINGTON, DC – Tonight, the Senate passed the Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2008 (H.R. 3043). Contained in the bill is more than $1.7 million in preliminary funding for Colorado projects, requested by United States Senator Ken Salazar. The bill will now go to a conference committee where the bill will be reconciled with the House-passed version. President Bush has already said he will veto the bill.

“These projects will make immediate differences in the quality of life for Colorado families,” said Senator Salazar. “These are critical projects that will assist thousands of people in Colorado. I am confident the communities and facilities benefiting will make excellent use of these funds. I will do what I can as the process moves forward to ensure that they get the funding they need so they can serve their communities.”

The Colorado projects funded 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 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 fund 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 based 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 to help with its re-location from downtown Denver to the redevelopment at the former Fitzsimons Army Medical Campus in Aurora;
  • $300,000 for CU-Denver Health Sciences Center 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.
  • $150,000 for Fort Lewis College in Durango to create an entrepreneurship center within the School of Business Administration. The center will bring and the regional community together and encourage them to form partnerships that foster creativity and enhance regional economic development.

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