SENS. SPECTER, CASEY ANNOUNCE FINAL APPROVAL OF CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA HEALTH, EDUCATION AND LABOR PROJECTS - US Fed News Service, Including US State News

The office of Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., issued the following news release:

U.S. Senators Arlen Specter, Ranking Member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Bob Casey, the junior Senator of Pennsylvania, announced today the full Congress has approved funding for several Central Pennsylvania area health care, education and labor projects. The projects are contained in the Fiscal Year 2008 Consolidated Appropriations Bill.

'I am pleased that Congress has approved this important funding for central Pennsylvania,' Senator Specter said. 'Health and education are our nation's greatest capital assets, and these projects are vital to ensuring quality health care and education for the area's residents.'

'This money is great news for central Pennsylvania and I am pleased that the President has signed this funding into law,' said Senator Casey. 'I will continue working with Senator Specter to ensure residents of the area have access to quality health care and education.'

The Bill must now be signed by the President of the United States before funding is final.

Central Pennsylvania projects in the bill include:*House Members that also supported a project are indicated in parentheses$85,408 for Holy Spirit Hospital in Cumberland County for the purchase of automated medication dispensing cabinets which feature individual line-item security storage, pharmacy profiling, medication tracking, report generation and integration to the medication/documentation charts.

$85,480 for Messiah College in Cumberland County to upgrade the College's technology infrastructure through the creation of a network with wireless capability.

$85,480 for Shippensburg University in Cumberland County for expansion of the University's existing hard wire, wireless, and fiber optic networks to academic buildings. (Todd Platts)

$85,480 for Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence in Dauphin County for a Training, Education and Prevention Institute, which would create educational and prevention programs to address the high incidence of domestic violence homicides in Pennsylvania.

$85,480 for Pinnacle Health System in Dauphin County for expansion of the Emergency Department and to increase bed capacity.

$85,480 for Youth Advocate Programs, Inc. in Dauphin County for community-based, non-residential programming as an alternative school service for juvenile offenders.

$85,480 for Ephrata Community Hospital in Lancaster County for the purchase of an Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy linear accelerator with Image Guided capability for radiation therapy treatments.

$85,480 for Pennsylvania Breast Cancer Coalition in Lancaster County for breast cancer education.

$85,480 for Susquehanna University in Snyder County to outfit the science labs with new and updated equipment and instrumentation.

$85,480 for Memorial Hospital in York County for electronic medical record and patient tracking equipment, software, training and implementation for the emergency department.

$85,480 for WellSpan Health in York County for expansion of health care outreach to the underinsured with the addition of a prevention specialist and financial case workers at Healthy York Network partner organizations. (Platts)

$85,480 for York College of Pennsylvania in York County to upgrade computers and other laboratory equipment in the York College Engineering Innovation Center.