Funding Is Contained in the Fiscal Year 2009 LHHS Appropriations Bill
Washington, D.C. – Today U.S. Senators Arlen Specter, Ranking Member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Bob Casey, announced the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee has approved funding for several Lehigh Valley health care, education and labor projects. The projects are contained in the Fiscal Year 2009 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations bill.
“I am pleased my colleagues have approved this important funding for the Lehigh Valley,” Senator Specter said. “Health and education are our nation’s greatest capital assets, and these projects are vital to ensuring quality health care and education for the area’s residents.”
“This money is great news for the Lehigh Valley and I am pleased that members of the committee approved this funding,” said Senator Casey. “I will continue working with Senator Specter to ensure residents of the area have access to quality health care and education.”
The bill will now await action on the Senate floor and must be approved by the House of Representatives and the President of the United States before funding is final.
Lehigh Valley projects in the bill include:
• $100,000 for Albright College in Berks County to purchase equipment for the chemistry and biochemistry laboratories.
• $100,000 for Alvernia College in Berks County for scholarships and nursing education programs aimed at addressing the nursing shortage and disparities in the Latino/Hispanic nursing workforce. The college will develop a pre entry recruitment program in connection with local high schools, a retention program, and offer scholarships for students.
• $100,000 for Reading Hospital and Medical Center in Berks County for equipment and renovation to support a radiology laboratory for the Center's School of Health Sciences.
• $100,000 for Cedar Crest College in Lehigh County for development of nursing education programs, which will include a senior citizen outreach initiative.
• $100,000 for the Center for Advancing Partnerships in Education in Lehigh County for the development of a foreign language distance learning program and for teacher training. This technology will enable students to receive digital instruction from the limited number of teachers in Pennsylvania who have an expertise in Japanese, Chinese, Russian and Arabic through digital instruction.
• $100,000 for DeSales University in Lehigh County for technology upgrades to expand the university’s Digital Campus initiative which transforms traditional classrooms into centers for distance learning.
• $100,000 for Good Shepherd Home, Inc. in Lehigh County for renovation and equipment, including neurorehabilitation technology, assistive technology, post stroke, pediatric developmental disabilities and wheelchair technology.
• $100,000 for Lehigh Carbon Community College in Lehigh County to provide science, technology, engineering and math programs to area high school students through a partnership between the college and Lehigh Career and Technical Institute.
• $100,000 for Lehigh Valley Hospital in Lehigh County to provide access to Maternal Fetal Medicine services for high risk patients.
• $100,000 for Muhlenberg College in Lehigh County for a civic engagement and service learning program.
• $100,000 for Sacred Heart Hospital of Allentown in Lehigh County for renovation and operating room equipment.
• $100,000 for Saint Luke's Hospital Allentown Campus in Lehigh County for renovation and equipment, including the purchase of Skyboom Technology for a new Operating Suite.
• $100,000 for East Stroudsburg University in Monroe County for math and science curriculum development and professional development for area teachers. This initiative will engage at risk and minority youth and their teachers with the goal of encouraging these students to pursue higher education math and science opportunities.
• $100,000 for Pocono Medical Center in Monroe County for construction, renovation and equipment to expand its cancer care services.
• $100,000 for Lafayette College in Northampton County for an initiative to promote a multidisciplinary collaboration and integration of the college's bioengineering and biomedical science education programs.
• $100,000 for Lehigh University in Lehigh County to develop programming for a Center for Developing Urban Educational Leaders which will conduct research on high performing urban schools and principals and use the information to develop leadership development programs to prepare aspiring urban principals.
• $100,000 for Northampton Community College in Northampton County for technology and equipment upgrades to support the college's current Information Technology (IT) Department. Technology upgrades will enhance support services for students by increasing coordination of student records across the college's multiple campuses.
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