CAPE MAY COURTHOUSE, N.J. - U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee, which sets national health policy, today joined representatives from USDA Rural Development and Cape Regional Medical Center to announce a USDA Emergency Rural Health Care (ERHC) Grant in the amount of $989,300.The funding will enable the medical center to purchase essential equipment to outfit nine COVID treatment bays with a negative pressure unit air handling system along with dedicated radiology equipment including CT-scan, X-ray, and ultrasound to reduce waiting time for testing and diagnosing, and providing more efficient, personalized high-quality care.
“We all know how our health care systems struggled even before the pandemic, but when COVID first landed, it hit rural providers especially hard — putting them under financial stress unlike anything they had ever seen,” said Sen. Menendez. “That’s why the Emergency Rural Health Care Grant Program, administered by the US Department of Agriculture is so important. This program provides relief to rural hospitals like Cape Regional — helping them stay open to provide essential care while also expanding the services they provide to the community like a new COVID wing.”
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“USDA Rural Development is proud to have partners like New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez who understand that investing in healthcare and community facilities contributes to the overall well-being, economic development and sustainability of rural America,” said USDA Administrator of Rural Housing Services, Joaquin Altoro.
“I am really pleased that USDA Rural Development can provide Cape Regional Medical Center, Inc., with an Emergency Rural Health Care Grant in the amount of $989,300 to help them purchase critical, potentially life-saving medical equipment, and provide the best care possible to their patients,” said USDA Rural Development New Jersey State Director Jane Asselta. “USDA Rural Development is committed to ensuring that people in New Jersey’s rural communities have access to quality healthcare in the communities where they live, work, and raise their families.”
“On behalf of the Cape Regional Health System Board of Trustees, the members of the Cape Regional Foundation Board, and Cape Regional Team members, I would like to thank the USDA Rural Development Program for their funding through the Emergency Rural Health Care Grant Program to support the expansion of our Emergency Department,” said Joanne, Carrocino, FACHE, President and CEO, Cape Regional Health System. “These vital funds will enable Cape Regional Medical Center to purchase essential equipment to outfit COVID treatment bays with a negative pressure air handling system, as well as dedicated radiology equipment including CT-scan, X-ray, and ultrasound. These additions will reduce waiting times for testing and diagnoses and provide more efficient, personalized high-quality care to the residents and visitors of Cape May County.”
In addition to the grant for Cape Regional Medical Center, USDA announced funding for five additional New Jersey organizations that have been impacted by the COVID pandemic. Grants will be used for a wide range of purposes, including acquiring new healthcare equipment, providing improved access to food in rural areas, expanding health care services, and replacing funds lost due to the COVID pandemic.
- Dorothy Volunteer Fire Co. was approved for a $28,900 grant to purchase a self-loading contactless stretcher. This stretcher will provide enhanced safety protocols to be followed while providing patient transport to the hospital from Weymouth Township, Estell Manor, and portions of Maurice River Township.
- Zufall Health Center, Inc. was approved for two grants. The first grant was for $314,500 to purchase equipment and expand their pharmacy services. This project will increase the number of clinical and dispensing pharmacists, and drivers to deliver medications and COVID-19 vaccines. The personnel expansion and additional equipment will allow them to address future COVID-19 waves more efficiently in the Town of Newton, New Jersey. The second grant was for $309,600. This grant is for the purchase of equipment and the expansion of their call center. This project will increase the number of available call center representatives and triage nurses. The personnel expansion and additional equipment will allow Zufall Health Center Inc. to handle the increased call volume by addressing current and future COVID-19 waves more efficiently in Newton, Dover, and Hackettstown New Jersey.
- Mid-Atlantic States Career and Education Center, Inc. was awarded a $340,700 grant to reimburse them for added expenses attributed to providing more food to residents throughout Salem County during the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes additional salary expenses, packaging materials, utilities for the distribution center, extra food purchases, COVID-19 personal protective equipment, and volunteer support materials.
- Flemington Area Food Pantry, Inc. was awarded a $121,600 grant to purchase and install necessary equipment for their food pantry annex in Flemington, NJ that primarily serves two senior housing developments in Hampton and Flemington, New Jersey. This includes a walk-in freezer, pallet mover and a generator.
- Northwest New Jersey Community Action Program, Inc. was awarded a $32,000 grant to purchase additional warehouse equipment to aid food storage/retrieval and a vehicle to deliver food to pantries with limited or no mode of transportation throughout Warren, Sussex and Hunterdon Counties in New Jersey.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Sen. Menendez has fought for funding for New Jersey hospitals, health care centers, and for PPE for frontline health care professionals. Sen. Menendez proudly supported the American Rescue Plan which dedicated $7.6 billion for Community Health Centers (CHCs), $10 billion in Defense Production Act (DPA) spending to meet the need for medical supplies and PPE, and $35 billion to make Affordable Care Act (ACA) plan premiums more affordable, amongst other provisions.
Sen. Menendez has also called for an independent, 9/11-style commission to investigate the country’s response to the pandemic and introduced the bipartisan National Coronavirus Commission Act last summer. Key provisions of the Senator’s bill were included in the PREVENT Pandemics Act, which was passed out of Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee by a wide bipartisan margin earlier this year in March.
After visiting Cape May County, Sen. Menendez will be attending events in Atlantic and Gloucester Counties to highlight federal funding and recent legislation passed into law.
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