Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies

Campus Expansion Project – United Community Health Center, 81 West Esperanza Blvd., Suite 201, Green Valley, AZ  85614 - $350,000, HHS-HRSA:  For nearly 30 years, United Community Health Center, a federally qualified health center located in Green Valley, Arizona, has been providing primary health care in this rural and medically underserved part of Arizona.  Sixty-five percent of residents live below the Federal Poverty Level.  This funding will be used to construct a 20,000 square foot building to include an in-house pharmacy and provide a dental services space so the mobile dental program for children can have a permanent home base.  This project is an important use of taxpayer funds because it will expand United Community Health Center’s clinical facilities to keep pace with the growing demand for health care services in this underserved community and create 39 new jobs.  Click here for a letter of support from Pima County Supervisor Ray Carroll.

Engineering Pathways Program - Science Foundation Arizona, 400 East Van Buren, Suite 200, Phoenix, AZ  85004 - $280,000, EDUC-FIPSE:  Funding will be used to expand a successful early college Engineering Pathways model to the Douglas campus of Cochise College in partnership with Douglas High School, the University of Arizona, and local industry, such as Fort Huachuca.  The goal is to produce a comprehensive set of course offerings with engineering as the foundation in order to prepare students for college and careers in the STEM fields and meet employer needs throughout southeastern Arizona.  This program will allow junior and senior high school students to take rigorous math, pre-engineering and technician courses with a focus on sustainability at Cochise College in Douglas.  These students will be able to obtain early college credits and certification opportunities before graduating high school.  The Pathways Partnership project is an important use of taxpayer funds because it will strengthen ties between high school, entry level college education and universities by preparing and steering students towards engineering and technology fields of study.  Furthermore, it will provide a sustainable pipeline of qualified and skilled workers to feed into Cochise County’s high-tech economy.  Click here or here for letters of support from Huachuca 50 President Larry Portouw and Douglas High School Principal Gloria Lopez.

Expansion of Nursing Home Facility - Northern Cochise Community Hospital, 901 W. Rex Allen Dr., Willcox, AZ  85643 - $200,000, HHS-HRSA: Funding will be used to replace Northern Cochise Community Hospital’s (NCCH) current 24-bed nursing home with a new 59-bed facility in order to meet the community's long term care needs.  This is an important use of taxpayer funds because many area residents are in need of long-term care and are currently waiting to be placed at a nursing facility.  NCCH, located in Willcox, Arizona, was established in 1967 and provides medical services for over 15,000 people throughout the rural areas of Cochise County.  The larger nursing home facility would create 22 new jobs for the community.  Click here for a letter of support from Willcox Vice Mayor Larry Schultz.

Feasibility Study and Master Plan for Construction of New Hospital - Southeast Arizona Medical Center, 2174 West Oak Avenue, Douglas, AZ  85607 - $55,000, HHS-HRSA:  Funding will be used for an assessment study to replace the existing 100 year old critical access hospital in Douglas, Arizona with a new facility.  The Southeast Arizona Medical Center (SAMC) has an emergency room and 25 licensed acute beds, serving the highest amount of Medicaid patients in Cochise County.  SAMC is a Critical Access Hospital - approximately 64% of the population of Douglas lives below or at the Federal Poverty Level.  This is an important use of taxpayer funds because SAMC has planned to expand and modernize its emergency room; however, the current facility is located in a flood plain.   As a result, the feasibility study will be used to plan for a new facility and provide data to support the need to build a new hospital.  The master architect plan would provide the guidelines to build an efficient and modern hospital for the community. Click here for a letter of support from Cochise County Supervisor Ann English.

Nurse Call System Equipment Upgrade - University Medical Center Corporaton, 1501 N. Campbell Ave., Tucson, AZ  85724 - $200,000, HHS-HRSA:  Funding will be used to upgrade University Medical Center’s (UMC) nurse call system for two floors that encompass pediatric patient care, bone marrow transplant patient care and cardiac patient care.  The current system on those patient floors outmoded and can no longer be serviced.  This is an important use of taxpayer funds because upgrading the system will improve patient care, patient safety and patient security.   An upgraded nurse call system will provide patients with a dedicated line of communication to the floor nurses—including interaction with smoke detectors and will provide a bed exit alarm, an important patient fall prevention measure.  Each year, UMC provides care for more than 125,700 Pima County patients including cancer, cardiology, transplant, trauma, pediatrics, imaging, laboratory services, and other clinical services.  Click here for a letter of support from Pima County Supervisor Ramon Valadez.

"One Chart" Electronic Medical Records – Tucson Medical Center, 5301 East Grant Road, Tucson, AZ  85712 - $600,000, HHS-HRSA:  Implementing an electronic medical records system at Tucson Medical Center (TMC) is an important use of taxpayer funds because it will result in improved patient safety and reduced health care costs through gained efficiency and elimination of waste.  In addition, approximately 30 to 50 personnel will be hired to implement and support the project. Funding will be used for physician and staff training of the electronic medical records system, and to purchase computers to facilitate physician order entry at the hospital.  TMC and its physician practices currently rely on paper-based patient records and fragmented IT systems to support care processes.  This has resulted in extreme inefficiency and inability to achieve necessary quality improvements.  At its conclusion, all physicians, clinicians and support personnel will work within a fully electronic environment.  Click here for a letter of support from Arizona State Representative Matt Heinz.

Student Achievement Through Arts Integration - Opening Minds Through the Arts Foundation, 2025 East Winsett Street, Tucson, AZ  85719 - $120,000, EDUC-FIE:  The Opening Minds Through the Arts (OMA) Foundation is a student achievement program that uses arts integration to teach math, science, reading, writing, social studies and 21st century life skills to K-8 students.  OMA has been active over the past ten years in the Tucson Unified School District (TUSD).  This funding will be used to expand OMA’s programs to additional schools by training more teachers to use the program.  This project is an important use of taxpayer funds because it is a proven model that increases student achievement in grades K-8, improves school performance, provides professional development to support an integrated approach to teaching and learning, and delivers solutions to challenged school districts.  Click here for a letter of support from Tucson Council Member Regina Romero.

Telepharmacy – Marana Health Center, Inc., 13644 North Sandario Road, Marana, AZ  85653 - $200,000, HHS-HRSA:  Funding will be used to establish a telepharmacy in the MHC Primary Care Health Center at the TMC Campus to provide low-cost pharmaceuticals to uninsured and underinsured patients utilizing the 340B drug program.  This service would be available to patients at six MHC satellite clinics in east and central Tucson, encompassing over 145,000 people.  This is an important use of taxpayer funds because the only pharmacy services currently available in this area are commercial pharmacies, none which provide low-cost prescription drugs.  Click here for a letter of support from Arizona State Representative David Bradley.

Venom Immunochemistry, Pharmacology and Emergency Response Institute - University of Arizona, 1401 East University Blvd., Tucson, AZ  85721 - $400,000, HHS-CDC:  The Venom Immunochemistry, Pharmacology and Emergency Response Institute (VIPER) at the University of Arizona will use this funding to establish supply mechanisms for lifesaving antivenom products within hours to snakebite, scorpion sting and rabies victims throughout the United States.  Funding will also be used to expand the VIPER/Arizona Poison Center mission by adding venom specialists around the clock, creating six to ten new jobs.  This multidisciplinary venom team will provide on-call experts in toxinology and in the safe use of investigational drugs to assist poison centers nationwide.  This is an important use of taxpayer funds because up to 1.8 million venom injuries occur each year, causing up to 94,000 deaths worldwide.  Nationally, antivenom production has declined rapidly and is in short supply.  Click here for a letter of support from the Director of Arizona Department of Health Services Will Humble.