$500 Million Of Stimulus Funds Spent On Community Health Care

By Justin Duckham-Talk Radio News Service

In its first 100 days, $500 million of the $787 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has been allocated to improve and expand the operations of Community Health Centers across the country. The allocation of the funds was praised today by Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services.

“The Recovery Act grants and the funding we have released are key investments that will help deliver care to millions of Americans,” said Sebelius during a telephone conference with reporters.

An additional $300 million is set to be alloted toward the National Health Service Corps, a segment of HHS, with the goal of increasing the available workforce in Community Health Centers across the Country. HHS expects the amount of available clinicians to double by 2011.

$2 billion was initially provided by ARRA to be spent on Community Health Centers over the next two years. The remaining funds will go toward updating medical technology, renovating equipment and constructing additional centers.