Funding Is Contained in the Fiscal Year 2008 LHHS Appropriations Conference Report
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Arlen Specter, Ranking Member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Bob Casey, the Junior Senator from Pennsylvania, announced today the U.S. Congress has approved funding for several Lehigh Valley health care, education and labor projects. The projects are contained in the Fiscal Year 2008 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Conference Report.
“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 southwestern Pennsylvania and I am thrilled that Congress 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 Conference Report must be approved by the full Congress and the President of the United States before funding is final.
Lehigh Valley projects in the Conference Report include (if a House Member also requested a project, their name is indicated at the end):
- $90,000 for Albright College in Berks County for purchase of equipment for the biology and environmental sciences laboratory.
- $90,000 for Alvernia College in Berks County for development of the nursing education programs as part of a community partnership between the City of Reading, Alvernia College, and Centro Hispano. (Jim Gerlach)
- $90,000 for Berks County Intermediate Unit in Berks County for the PA Educational Music in the Schools Program.
- $90,000 for Reading Hospital and Medical Center in Berks County for a Surgical Robotics System for the Departments of Surgery and Obstetrics and Gynecology to expand its minimally invasive surgery capabilities.
- $90,000 for Moravian College in Northampton County for equipment, technology and curriculum development for the science initiative.
- $90,000 for Cedar Crest College in Lehigh County for continued development of a nursing education program, including support for clinical courses and further enhancement of its baccalaureate and graduate nursing program.
- $90,000 for Children’s Hospital of KidsPeace in Lehigh County to construct and equip therapeutic and educational facilities, and increase bed capacity for medical and psychiatric treatment areas.
- $90,000 for Community Services for Children, Inc. in Lehigh County to support the SafeStart for Fragile Families, a program which serves drug impacted, abused and neglected infants and toddlers.
- $90,000 for Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Hospital in Lehigh County for purchase of medical equipment for rehabilitative programs, as well as assistive technology for speech, occupational and physical therapy programs.
- $90,000 for Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network in Lehigh County for construction of their Phase II expansion of Cedar Crest Emergency Department.
- $90,000 for Muhlenberg College in Lehigh County for education and outreach services to support undergraduate students with disabilities. (Charles Dent)
- $90,000 for Sacred Heart Hospital of Allentown in Lehigh County for purchase of equipment for an endovascular laboratory to permit diagnosis and non-surgical treatment of diseases.
- $90,000 for Saint Luke's Hospital in Lehigh County for expansion of the facility, including the emergency room, operating suites, labs and pharmacy.
- $90,000 for East Stroudsburg University in Monroe County for development of the forensic science education programs at their Cyber Crime and Forensics Institute. (Paul Kanjorski)
- $90,000 for Pocono Medical Center in Monroe County for expansion of the Dale and Frances Hughes Cancer Center facility.
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