Congressman Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-02) secured funding for health care and workforce projects across Middle and Southwest Georgia, as part of the Fiscal Year 2023 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act. This bill now goes to the full House Appropriations Committee for approval.
“This funding bill will help make health care more comprehensive and affordable for everyone as well as ensure that we are providing quality education and workforce training so that today’s youth are able to fully participate in the 21st century economy,” said Congressman Bishop. “I was pleased to secure funding for specific projects that will bring more students to Middle and Southwest Georgia to train and start their careers. They also will help protect children, improve care for the elderly, and ensure vulnerable families have access to affordable, quality medical services.”
Through Congressman Bishop’s leadership, six projects were funded as part of this appropriations bill.
- Albany Technical College — Support regional recruitment efforts to identify and transition interested students into allied health professions, with the overall goal of addressing the nursing shortage throughout Southwest Georgia. As part of this project, Albany Technical College will partner with Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital to support financial assistance and recruitment efforts.
- Augusta University’s Southwest Regional Campus of the Medical College of Georgia — Provide workforce training and expand the workforce by supporting graduate students at Augusta University’s Southwest Regional Campus of the Medical College of Georgia in Albany, Georgia. The funds would also be used to increase the number of Medical College of Georgia students fast tracked into medical practice in Southwest Georgia and to help them get new jobs in rural and underserved areas of the state.
- Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregivers — Expand support and increase awareness of Alzheimer caregivers in Georgia by expanding the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregivers’ Dealing with Dementia (DWD) program. The project would support outreach and engagement activities, curriculum development, training programs, printing and distributing of resource materials about the program, and analyze the program’s success among the community.
- Keyrx Ministries, Inc. — Support a community-based medical student-run clinic, in collaboration with Mercer University, in the poverty-stricken Unionville community in Macon, Georgia, which will improve the health care of children, senior citizens, and homeless individuals who need medical attention and mental health care services.
- Southwest Georgia Children’s Alliance, Inc. — Help address and treat child abuse and neglect through evidence- and model- based direct service programs benefitting 17 resource-poor counties in Southwest Georgia: Ben Hill, Clay, Crisp, Dooly, Early, Lee, Macon, Miller, Quitman, Randolph, Schley, Seminole, Stewart, Sumter, Terrell, Webster, and Wilcox counites.
- Golden Triangle Resource Conservation and Development Council — Train heavy equipment operators to fill the many vacant positions that exist in Southwest Georgia as well as other areas of the state. The project will provide employment opportunities for high school or vocational school students, individuals reentering the workforce after time spent in a correctional facility, individuals in a workforce development program, and individuals who already have jobs but are interested in learning and mastering skills to improve their financial future.
Congressman Bishop will continue to fight for this funding as the bill moves to the full Appropriations Committee, and is considered by the U.S. House of Representatives, and in negotiations with the Senate.
Original source can be found here.
