(Washington,
D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member of the Labor,
Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS) Subcommittee,
announced that she has included funding to boost Southwest Washington
education, labor, and health care priorities in the Fiscal Year 2011 LHHS
Appropriations bill.
“In
the 21st century economy, it is critical that we continue investing in local
projects that train our workforce, teach our students, and boost our economy in
communities throughout Southwest Washington,” said Senator Murray. “These investments will
fund community priorities like employment programs for women veterans and teacher
training. I was proud to fight for these local investments, and I’m going to
continue working to help Washington state communities meet the needs of their
families.”
Having
passed the LHHS Subcommittee, the bill will now go to the full Senate Appropriations
Committee before going to the full Senate for consideration.
The
following projects were included in the bill for Southwest Washington:
Partners
in Careers, Veteran Women Program – $100,000
This
funding will go towards the creation of pre-employment training programs that
will serve 150 female veterans. The Veteran Women Program will also develop job
shadowing, internship, and job placement opportunities for female veterans.
“Our
women veterans are coming home with great skills as well as great challenges.
The VWP is here to help women veterans get the support they need to reconnect,
find jobs and strengthen families and communities,” said Pam Brokaw, Executive
Director of Partners in Careers.
Southwest
Washington Workforce Development Council, STEM Industry-Based Teacher Training
Initiative – $100,000
This
funding would allow the Southwest Washington Workforce Development Council to
provide middle and high school teachers with the knowledge and training they
need to provide for their students.
“This project
provides a creative and cost-effective way to help teachers gain valuable
information about how to make math and science more real to students and
relevant to the world of work,” said Lisa Nisenfeld, SWWDC Executive
Director. “The
interactive and industry-focused training through the highly successful High
Tech U program, coupled with follow-up work shops on how to best apply
learnings in the classroom, will go a long way towards engaging students and
informing them about possible math and science related career paths right in
their own backyard.”
St.
John Medical Center Foundation, St. John Medical Center Simulation Education
Project – $100,000
This
funding will enable St. John Medical Center to purchase a programmable
simulation “family” of mannequins which will be used throughout the region to
provide unique medical training and education. These mannequins will be used
for simulation education and will allow for more training for high risk, low
volume medical procedure so that providers have sharp and current skills to
handle all types of medical situations. This simulation education will
also increase patient safety and promote workforce development in a rural,
medically underserved area.
Josiah Johnson,
CEO of St. John Medical Center said, “The ability to provide simulation
mannequin training will help bridge the gap between academic training and
on-boarding of nursing students into our organization and it will promote
workforce development in the Lower Columbia Region.”
Legacy
Health System, Legacy Pediatric Critical Care Telemedicine Service – $125,000
This
funding will purchase mobile telemedicine units to improve pediatric health
outcomes.
“Providing high
quality care for children is one of society’s highest priorities, but often
that’s not always possible for rural communities that don’t have access to the
kinds of pediatric specialists that are mostly found in major metropolitan
areas. As an example, the Journal of Rural Health recently stated that
emergency physicians in rural hospitals reported low confidence in pediatric
emergencies and expressed the need for additional training in pediatric
emergencies as their top priority. The technology that is available to us
through telemedicine can eliminate those concerns. Telemedicine allows us to
put our top pediatric specialists at the bedside of any rural hospital in the
region, giving rural physicians the confidence they need to provide the highest
and safest quality care possible to their smallest patients,” said George
J. Brown, M.D., FACP, President and CEO of Legacy Health.
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