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Wednesday, October 24, 2007
NELSON: NEBRASKA EDUCATION, HEALTH PROGRAMS RECEIVE FUNDING THROUGH EARMARKS

Today, Nebraska's Senator Ben Nelson announced that groups in Nebraska will receive $4.4 million in earmarks for health and education programs in the Fiscal Year 2008 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations bill (S. 1710).

"This bill contains important bedrock funding for programs like Social Security and Medicare, as well as critical dollars for K-12 education, higher education, and our nation's health services," said Senator Nelson.  "However, I have also earmarked funds for Nebraska-specific projects to ensure a fair share of federal resources are devoted to improving Nebraska schools, hospitals and our quality of life."

The bill contains funding for the following Nebraska projects:

  • Charles Drew Health Center Expansion, Omaha - $1 million: Funding will support the Charles Drew Health Center's “Growing a Healthy Community” expansion project and allow the Health Center to offer a “one-stop-shop” for families seeking medical, dental and behavioral health services. The expanded facility will include a state-of-the art pharmacy, twenty-three exam rooms, five dental suites, a multi-purpose community room, educational class rooms, expanded laboratory and radiology departments, a fitness center, expanded parking, and ample space to house all CDHC programs. 
  • UNMC Cancer Center Research Space, Omaha - $900,000: Funding will be directed toward the construction of one floor of space, dedicated to cancer researchers, in the Research Center of Excellence II (RCE II) building currently under construction at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC). The 32,000 gross square foot floor will contain 16 laboratory modules, and will enable UNMC’s Eppley Cancer Center-- the only National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center in a five-state region, from North Dakota to Texas-- to recruit and retain cancer researchers, and to advance research programs. Building new programs in cancer causes, control, and prevention will enable the Eppley Cancer Center to achieve NCI Comprehensive Cancer Center designation, the highest designation from the National Cancer Institute. 
  • Alegent Health Community Physician Electronic Medical Record Support, Omaha - $100,000: Funding will enable Alegent Health to extend Emergency Medical Records services to independent, community based physicians. The goal of EMRs is to make health care more effective and efficient by tracking the medical care a patient receives from different providers and by supplying doctors and nurses with relevant information, such as drug counter-indications or preventive care recommendations. 
  • Boys Town Institute for Child Health Improvement, Omaha - $900,000: The funds provided will allow for completion of Boys Town Hospital’s Institute for Child Health Improvement, which will provide primary care and treatment for children with complex medical and behavioral problems, including children suffering from developmental disabilities and those in foster care. The Institute will serve children from Nebraska, Iowa and surrounding states, providing them with the full range of preventive, acute and chronic care services. 
  • Clinical Social Work Program at York College, York - $100,000: York College seeks to establish a new degree offering to address the shortage of clinical social workers in central and western Nebraska. The project would include hiring appropriate faculty, assembling a curriculum, obtaining necessary materials for the campus library, and applying for accreditation among other activities. 
  • Mid-America Arts Alliance (Hands-on Experiential Learning Project) Governance Training for Small Rural Museums - $100,000: HELP is a rural development program of the Mid-America Arts Alliance, in partnership with the Nebraska Arts Council. Its goal is to put small, rural museums on a path to independent sustainability as they enrich the cultural lives of their communities. These funds will be used to train the board and staff of 20 museums across the state in nonprofit management. 
  • Nebraska Telehealth Network Project (Nebraska Hospital Association, Lincoln) - $400,000: The Nebraska Telehealth Network is an interactive video and data network that provides integration among the hospitals, public health departments, public health laboratories and other entities across the entire state of Nebraska. The major functions of the Network are to improve quality and access to care, particularly in rural Nebraska, to provide patient, provider and community education, and to serve as a communication source in the event of a natural, man-made or terrorist emergency. In addition, the Network will also be used to assist with the development of a statewide electronic medical record project currently in development through the Nebraska Medical Association. 
  • NEED-IT: Nebraska Early Detection Informatics Technology Project at UNMC, Omaha - $100,000: Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in Nebraska. Funding will be provided to support the Nebraska Early Detection-Informatics Technology (NEED-IT) project, the first statewide lung cancer screening project that will serve as a model for the nation as a way to improve detection and treatment of smoking related diseases. Collaborating hospitals across Nebraska will provide scans for those at risk for developing lung cancer. The scans will be evaluated, stored, and used in the development of advanced computer technologies and a web-based data registry that will improve the early detection and management of lung cancer and other smoking-related diseases. 
  • Northeast Community College (NECC) & University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) – College of Nursing Northern Division, Norfolk - $200,000: For the purchase of nursing equipment, classroom and lab equipment, and multimedia equipment for the distance education classrooms in a new College of Nursing facility in Norfolk that will be jointly shared by the University of Nebraska Medical Center which will address the projected shortage of nurses in Northeast and North Central Nebraska and meet the needs of community/public health and acute level hospital care 
  • Peru State College’s Adopt a High School Program, Peru - $100,000: Peru State College will use this funding to expand and improve the “Adopt a High School Program” established by PSU in December of 2004 in three small rural high schools that previously did not have a successful history of sending graduates to college. The program provides for 18-months of college preparatory activities for high-school juniors selected from high schools that have traditionally had a low rate of graduates go on to college – this includes mentors, supplemental services, success workshops, an email account to correspond with Peru’s faculty. At the end of the completed program, the students are offered a 4-year tuition scholarship to Peru State College. 
  • Sarpy County, Nebraska Methamphetamine Treatment Program, Omaha -$100,000: For the Nebraska Methamphetamine Treatment Program in Sarpy County, to assist law enforcement, the courts, and human service agencies by providing services to women and children in methamphetamine abuse cases. It is a clinically managed treatment service for substance abuse patients using Heartland’s treatment and counseling facilities. Ultimately, treatment will be a collaborative and community effort between Heartland Family Service, Nebraska State Probation, the courts, and other social service agencies. 
  • 21st Century Environment for Nursing at UNMC, Lincoln - $200,000: Funding will be directed toward construction of one floor in the 40,000 square foot state-of-the-art teaching facility at the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s College of Nursing division in Lincoln. The 10,000 square-foot floor will house state-of-the-art training technologies where computer imaging will create virtual medical scenarios such as simulated intensive care units and telehealth labs. This increase in training space will allow the Lincoln division to accept more students, thereby reducing Nebraska’s nursing shortage, and will enable students to safely acquire essential skills for high-intensity clinical care, such as trauma, emergency, and intensive care, and disaster events, as well as skills necessary to respond in more routine clinical settings. 
  • Sensor Technology Project for Senior Independent Living, Hastings - $100,000: Funding would be used to execute a “beta study” of Sensor Technology devices by the Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society in partnership with Volunteers of America. This includes purchasing devices, providing for wages of necessary personnel to conduct the study and for collecting and analyzing test data to be used to complete a final report. 
  • City of Omaha’s After School Initiative, Omaha - $100,000: Funding would be used to expand the City of Omaha’s after school program to provide youth in Omaha with access to quality, affordable, supervised, after school programming. Funding would be used for staff to administer the program and to contract with after school service providers.

To learn more about earmarks, visit Senator Nelson's Nebraska Earmarks webpage at: http://bennelson.senate.gov/issues/earmarks/index.cfm

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