Some Question Use of Tobacco Settlement to Fund Johnstown, Pa.-Area Projects. - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

By Randy Griffith, The Tribune-Democrat, Johnstown, Pa. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Mar. 22--The region is swimming in cash -- in a $66,000 therapy pool at UPMC Bedford Memorial among other things -- thanks to the $246 billion tobacco settlement.

The pool is one of many perks in the region paid for with millions of dollars that have come to Cambria, Somerset and Bedford counties.

The settlement is paying for such things as new diagnostic equipment, medical help for uninsured patients and financial aid for hospitals taking care of the poor.

But critics say the money is not always directed toward the tobacco companies' victims.

Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids criticized states for using tobacco money to pay for golf courses, highways and deficit reduction.

'Most states have failed to keep their promise to spend a significant portion of the money on programs to protect kids from tobacco and help those already addicted,' campaign President Matthew L. Myers said in a press release.

Pennsylvania falls short of meeting the group's expectations, but still ranks ahead of most other states, spokesman Michael Berman said in a telephone interview from Washington.

State law defines how the tobacco money will be spent, and all of it goes toward health-care issues, health department spokesman Richard McGarvey said in a telephone interview from Harrisburg.

'We are one of the few states that can say all of our tobacco money is used for health care,' McGarvey said.

The law dedicates 12 percent of the annual tobacco money to tobacco prevention. Last year, prevention spending came to $53 million in Pennsylvania.

Spending also targets medical research, uncompensated care at hospitals, help for disabled workers, nursing home and in-home care assistance and expansion of the state lottery-funded prescription drug program.

Rural hospitals were eligible for one-time grants to help pay for equipment and programs. Meyersdale Medical Center and UPMC Bedford both received $500,000 matching grants.

'We were required to put in $500,000, but that makes $1 million to spend on equipment,' Mary Libengood, president and chief operating officer, said in a telephone interview from Meyersdale Medical Center.

A new $470,000 spiral CT scanner led Meyersdale's shopping list. Other purchases included $145,000 for ultrasound equipment, $78,000 for mammography and $44,000 for endoscopy.

'We got 35 pieces of equipment, all related to patient care,' Libengood said.

Bedford's pool was part of renovations to the therapy department. Other purchases included a four-dimensional ultrasound unit for $131,000, a state-of-the-art operating room table for $196,000 and mobile mammography unit for $145,000.

Like Meyersdale, Bedford's grant required the hospital to pitch in another $500,000, hospital spokesman Scot Hartnett said in a telephone interview.

'We are getting $1 million worth of equipment at half the price,' Hartnett said. 'It is really a tremendous benefit to our patients.'

Area smokers were not forgotten by the state.

About $335,000 came to Cambria County last year for anti-smoking and smoking cessation efforts. The campaign is in the second year of a three-year $1.05 million contract.

'We are targeting every aspect of the community we can think of,' program Director Amy Boring said in a telephone interview.

In addition to the usual anti-smoking newspaper ads and billboards, smoking cessation classes and school programs, the coalition has come up with some innovative soft-sale approaches.

Workers visit pediatricians' offices to tell parents about the dangers of second-hand smoke and offer help quitting.

They also help run car seat clinics and use the opportunity to bring the same message to those who bring child car seats for inspection, Boring said.

'Cambria County is doing very well at targeting smokers to help,' Boring said. 'We have made advances in all areas to this point.'

Improvements are seen in annual surveys that also are paid for with tobacco money.

Smoking among area high school students has dropped from 24 percent in 2000 to 19 percent last year, Jim Bracken, administrator of the Cambria County Drug and Alcohol Agency, said in a telephone interview.

Similar programs are in place in Bedford and Somerset counties.

Somerset Hospital oversees the county program there, administering $185,000 in tobacco money last year, Robert King, program director, said in a telephone interview from the hospital.

McGarvey said the programs across the state seem to be working and would not have been possible without the tobacco money. Before the settlement, the state spent about $1 million a year on anti-smoking programs. That jumped to $53 million last year.

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(c) 2004, The Tribune-Democrat, Johnstown, Pa. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.