Delegation Announces $4.2 Million for Health, Safety and Education

Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Joe Biden and Tom Carper and Congressman Mike Castle announced today that they secured $4,215,000 in federal funding that will enhance the health and safety of Delawareans and offer unique educational and affordable housing opportunities. The funding breaks down as follows: Health Care: · St. Francis Cardiac Lab — $750,000 to purchase additional state-of-the-art equipment, including a GE Innova Cardiac System and Image Vault and a new MRI unit. · St. Francis Minority Outreach Program — $250,000 to help support a comprehensive prenatal and maternity care program; provide mobile health services to shelters, rehab facilities, other underserved populations; and offer a family practice center focusing on providing medical care and referral services to poorer, largely non-English speaking populations. · UD Biotech Institute — $500,000 to purchase equipment for mass spectroscopy, DNA and protein sequencing, structural biology, bioimaging and bioinformatics. · Beebe Nursing Facility — $100,000 to construct a new nursing school facility to enable the hospital to expand current enrollment. · Wesley School of Nursing — $175,000 to expand and modernize the existing facility. Housing · Sacred Heart Village Renovations — $250,000 to complete the renovation of the low-income senior housing facility with the inclusion of a medical/dental examination room, a library and a classroom. Crime Prevention/Law Enforcement · Courts Organized to Serve — $250,000 to develop a fully integrated civil, criminal and financial case management system. · Delaware State Police — $300,000 to enhance its automated fingerprinting identification system. · New Castle County Police — $200,000 to modernize its record management system. · Children and Families First — $600,000 for truancy prevention and intervention programs. · University of Delaware — $65,000 to continue its statewide survey of high risk and delinquent behavior including violence, substance abuse and property crimes in 5th, 8th and 11th graders. Education · Delaware Aerospace Foundation — $750,000 for the construction of an aerospace technology and learning complex in Kent County, Delaware. The facility will be the only education and learning facility of its kind in Delaware and will promote scientific and technical literacy through the use of interactive exhibits, learning laboratories, professional development workshops and a resource center. “Though I am not happy with how this bill was passed and I certainly think there were some areas like the COPS program that were woefully under-funded, Delaware did pretty well overall,” said Senator Biden. “I am particularly pleased that we were able to get funding to help St. Francis Hospital better serve low-income families that might not otherwise get the treatment they need. I’m also happy that we are doing something proactive to help address the national nursing shortage by helping Beebe and Wesley expand their programs.” “While I was not pleased with every aspect of this legislation, there are many good things here for Delaware,” said Senator Carper. “The shortage of nurses in this country is one of our biggest healthcare challenges, so I’m especially pleased we could bring some federal money into Delaware to help expand our nursing facilities and educational programs. The money for St. Francis will help expand its cardiac care facility, one of the most widely used in the state. And the money for the Delaware Biotech Institute will purchase new research equipment needed to maintain the cutting-edge research performed at the institute.” “Despite a tight budget, we were able to secure critical funding to help our domestic priorities in the state. There is no question the people of Delaware deserve better healthcare and this funding bill begins to meet that need by increasing funding for community health centers, providing program dollars for Saint Francis to continue minority outreach and upgrade their Cardiac lab and to address the state’s nursing shortage,” said Congressman Castle. “This legislation also continues our commitment to empowering our local law enforcement officers by providing them with improved systems and protecting our at-risk youth. “