Sens. Carper, Kaufman Announce over $500,000 in Funding for Public Health and Prevention Priorities; $100,000 for Community Health Centers

WASHINGTON – Six months after the Affordable Care Act was signed into law, U.S. Senators Tom Carper and Ted Kaufman (both D-Del.) announced over $500,000 in federal grants from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for public health and prevention priorities in Delaware, including HIV testing, infectious disease research and tobacco support services to aid those who want to quit smoking. In addition, the Senators announced $100,000 in federal grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for rural healthcare facilities. The funding was made possible primarily by the new law’s Prevent and Public Health Fund, Rural Development Community Facilities Program Fund and the Recovery Act. 

"In order to strengthen our health care system, we must prioritize evidence-based ways to keep people from becoming sick in the first place," said Senators Carper and Kaufman. "This investment in preventive care and rural health centers will greatly reduce the number of Delawareans from every economic level from suffering from common, costly – and often preventable – chronic diseases which, in turn, will tremendously reduce the costs to our nation’s health care system."

More specifically, Delaware received the following Prevention & Public Health Fund Grants:

$51,218 awarded to the State of Delaware – HIV Prevention and Testing Grant
 

Funding for HIV prevention and testing was allocated to the CDC by the President’s National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS), to further focus HIV prevention on high risk populations and communities, as well as fill critical gaps in data, knowledge, and understanding of the epidemic. The funding will be used in Delaware for HIV testing opportunities, linking HIV-infected persons with appropriate services, and implementing HIV prevention programs.  

$54,554 awarded to the Delaware Department of Health – Tobacco Prevention and Control Grant
 

This award will be used to help Delaware implement plans to reduce tobacco use through regulatory and educational arenas, as well as enhance and expand the national network of tobacco cessation quit lines to significantly increase the number of tobacco users who quit. 

$429,055 awarded to the Delaware Division of Health – Epidemiology, Laboratory and Health Information Systems Grant    

This award will support the hiring and training of epidemiologists, laboratory scientists, and health information specialists who can work on multiple infectious diseases. It will also be used to increase the number of modern, well-equipped public health laboratories using electronic laboratory information systems to manage and exchange information effectively between labs and public health departments. Thirdly, the funds will be used in the developing capacity for public health departments to participate in meaningful use of electronic health records, e.g. through implementation of electronic laboratory-based reporting according to national standards. 

Delaware received the following Rural Development Community Facilities Program Grant:

$100,000 for LaRed Health Center in Georgetown, DE 

This award will be used to purchase dental equipment to help expand their dental program. 

To learn more about the grants issued to the state of Delaware and across the nation, visit: http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2010pres/09/20100924a.html and http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/Home.html .