Senator Murray Announces over $10 Million for Community Health Centers Across Washington State
Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) announced that Washington state will receive over $10 million to expand services at community health centers throughout the state as part of the American Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. As a senior member of the Senate Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Subcommittee, Murray worked to ensure that job-creating investments in Washington's health centers were a key component of the Recovery Act. Senator Murray voted to pass the Recovery Act on February 13th. The bill was signed into law by President Obama on February 17th.
"We're moving quickly to get Economic Recovery funding working in Washington state communities," said Senator Murray. "Community health centers provide quality and affordable health care for all Washington residents and I will continue to work to help expand their services. This funding will allow health centers to protect jobs, keep overall health care costs down, and keep their doors open to the local community."
The funding announced for Washington state is part of $338 million included in the Recovery Act for Increased Demand for Services (IDS) grants. Strategies to increase the services of our community health centers may include adding new providers and expanding hours of operations.