Burns: $3.2 million for area health care centers

Funding to support direct care workers impacted by pandemic

Rep. Frank Burns    March 24, 2022 | 11:41 AM

EBENSBURG, March 24 – Thanks to bipartisan legislation supported by state Rep. Frank Burns earlier this year, Cambria County health care centers will be receiving more than $3.2 million in funding to replenish resources and fund recruitment and staff retention efforts.

“This funding will help our local medical centers hire and retain critical staff, taking care of the people who care for us,” said Burns, D-Cambria. “This funding, which I supported, will help bring relief to frontline workers and ensure our region continues to have access to high quality health care.”

?Funding was awarded locally to:

  • Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center, $3,005,652.
  • Conemaugh Miners Medical Center, $147,625.
  • Mental Health Resources of Central Pa., $49,694.

The money is part of Act 2 of 2022, legislation that appropriated $225 million to support the following health care areas: 

  • $100 million to be distributed to acute care, critical access and children’s hospitals licensed by the Department of Health on a per-bed basis. The funding will be used strictly for recruitment and retention payments to direct care staff. 
  • $110 million to be distributed on a per-bed basis to high-Medical Assistance hospitals, designated Critical Access Hospitals, and inpatient and residential behavioral health facilities for recruitment and retention payments to key staff. 
  • $15 million to quadruple the funds available for the nurse loan forgiveness program at Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency, a high-demand program which has already received more than 20,000 applications by the March 1 deadline.

Further details on hospitals and facilities receiving allocations are available on DHS’s website.

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