Congressman Salazar's Funding Priorities for Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies

As a new member of the Appropriations Committee, I have new oversight responsibilities for the spending of federal dollars, as well as an increased role in the prioritization of federal spending.

For too long, the process of Congressional funding requests lacked transparency and accountability, leading some members of Congress to abuse it and the public trust. Since assuming the majority in 2007, Congressional Democrats have significantly reformed the process, including ensuring that every American can easily determine which member of Congress has submitted a requests.

Below you will find a list of my funding requests for the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education Appropriations bill.

Southeastern Colorado Center for Nursing and Rural Health
$1,000,000
Colorado State University—Pueblo
2200 Bonforte Blvd.
Pueblo, CO 81001
Explanation: Funding will be used to develop a more practical nursing laboratory in order to accommodate a doubling of enrollment over the last three years. The funding will also help develop an online RN to BSN program for improving the quality of care in Southeastern Colorado. Specifically, it will include support and online coursework for the Master in Science with a Major in Nursing and an Emphasis in Nursing Education program. CSU-Pueblo will strive to recruit, in particular, minority students for the program and have pre-nursing advisors on staff to promote the program.

Tribal Nation Building
$600,000
Fort Lewis College
1000 Rim Drive
Durango, CO 81301
Explanation: Fort Lewis College will develop and administer the Tribal Nation Building (TNB) program that provides experiential learning to students at the request of tribal governments and organizations in the Four Corners Region and nationally. Fort Lewis College students, Native and non-Native, under the guidance and mentorship of FLC faculty, will be provided the opportunity to contribute to tribal communities in meaningful and significant ways by applying classroom knowledge to real world problems defined by tribal entities.

Center for Nursing Excellence Fundamentals/Simulation Nursing Lab
$170,000
Adams State College
208 Edgemont Blvd.
Alamosa, CO 81102
Explanation: The Fundamentals/Simulation Nursing Lab will be equipped with human patient simulators, and bedside computers, with Internet access; digitalized video; computer assisted instructional software; and other interactive software. The labs are designed to replicate realistic practice settings, including the basic hospital unit, critical care, pediatrics, neonatal nursery, maternity, home care, health assessment and diagnostic laboratory. In addition to its use by students in the Adams State College Bachelors of Science Nursing program, Trinidad State Junior College Registered Nursing program students and LPN, RN, MSN, PA's and physicians at the San Luis Valley Regional Medical Center will have access to this facility.

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education Programs for Southern Colorado
$750,000
Colorado State University—Pueblo
2200 Bonforte Blvd
Pueblo, CO 81001
Explanation: Colorado State University—Pueblo is seeking funding to attract and educate more students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) curriculums to meet the needs of Southern Colorado. This project is designed to address the challenge of education reform, academic preparation in math and science and will increase the number of minority graduates in the STEM disciplines.

Physician Pipeline for Rural Colorado
$1,500,000
University of Colorado School of Medicine
UC Denver School of Medicine Bldg 500, room E1353
13001 E. 17th Place
Aurora, CO 80045
Explanation: With the requested funding, the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine (UCD SOM) will establish the Physician Pipeline for Rural Colorado to expose a cohort of 48 to 60 Rural Track medical students and all 160 regular medical students each year to a smaller community setting, encouraging them to establish their practices and provide primary care to the underserved regions of rural and remote Colorado. Through their training in rural communities, students will receive a better understanding of the context of their patients, not only providing them an education based on applied medical science, but also providing their patients higher quality healthcare from physicians who understand the rural culture. The goal of the project is to support the development of 12-15 new rural physicians a year. The project would also partially support 30-50 jobs for program coordinators and preceptors responsible for the curriculum.

Primary Care “Safety Net” Clinic for La Plata County
$4,200,000
Mercy Health Foundation
1010 Three Springs Blvd
Durango, CO 81301
Explanation: These funds will be used for the planning, design, construction and equipment for a new primary health clinic in La Plata County. This would also include the equipment necessary for information technology systems required to provide telemedicine and electronic medical records for the clinic.

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