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HomeNewsArchivesV.I. GETTING NEARLY $2.4M IN HEALTH-CARE FUNDING

V.I. GETTING NEARLY $2.4M IN HEALTH-CARE FUNDING

May 7, 2004 – The territory will benefit from nearly $2.4 million in health-care grants announced on Friday by Delegate Donna M. Christensen.
More than $1.3 million of that amount will be divided between two newly privatized health clinic facilities on St. Thomas and St. Croix.
And nearly $1.1 million will go to the Health Department for HIV/AIDS services.
Not-for-profit agencies funded
In the years of debate in the Legislature over whether to privatize the East End Family Health Center on St. Thomas and the Ingeborg Nesbitt Clinic in Frederiksted, the administration's rationale for wanting the move was that not-for-profit agencies can qualify for vast quantities of federal dollars that are not available to local government entities.
The Senate finally approved the changes on March 11, turning the operation of the facilities over, respectively, to St. Thomas East End Medical Center Corp. and Frederiksted Health Care Inc.
On Friday came word that the Frederiksted agency has been awarded $835,490 and the St. Thomas one has been awarded $489,268 for their "health center cluster programs." The grants are from the federal Health Resources Services Administration, according to a release from Christensen's Washington office.
"These programs are designed to increase access to comprehensive primary and preventative health care and improve the health status of underserved and vulnerable populations," the release stated.
HIV/AIDS funds
Christensen's other announcement was that the Health Department has been awarded $976,601 to provide life-sustaining services for persons living with HIV/AIDS, along with a second grant of $93,350 for HIV/AIDS surveillance.
The larger grant is from the U.S. Health and Human Services Department's Ryan White Care Act Title II formula grants program. This program assists in making much-needed medications available to more individuals with HIV/AIDS.
The surveillance project "is designed to monitor atypical HIV strains among persons newly diagnosed with HIV," the release said.

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