THIS IS A PRESS RELEASE FROM THE OFFICE OF UNITED STATES SENATOR ROBERT BYRD.

Washington, D.C…. The National Health Services Corps (NHSC) may receive a funding increase due to the work of U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va. Byrd, who is the Chairman of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee, added $14.4 million for this health program that serves rural and underserved communities in that panel’s Fiscal Year 2009 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Appropriations legislation. The next step for the bill is debate before the full Senate.

“Throughout my career, I have been dedicated to bringing access to quality health care to rural and underserved areas in West Virginia. Despite the President’s efforts to cut funding for this important program, particularly when our nation’s health care system is suffering, I applaud the Committee for rejecting his misguided request.”

The Senate Appropriations Committee voted to reverse the president’s budget proposal to cut $14 million from the NHSC budget. With Senator Byrd’s help, the NHSC budget could rise to $135 million in FY 2009. NHSC works with rural and underserved communities to develop and expand health care services. In addition, NHSC recruits health professionals for the program who are dedicated to serving areas that have few or no health care options.

NHSC recruits primary care doctors, nurses, dentists, mental health professionals, among other providers important to the well-being of West Virginians. Through a combination of programs, including an educational loan repayment program and a scholarship program, NHSC is able to build a corps of primary care clinicians who are dedicated to serving communities that are in need of health care services. Currently, forty-three NHSC clinicians are servicing thirty sites across West Virginia.

“While more and more aspiring doctors are entering fields of specialty medicine, leaving rural and underserved communities lacking much needed primary care physicians, National Health Services Corps is stepping up its efforts to fill the void. I am proud to support this program that is working hard to help overcome the roadblocks that prevent many West Virginians from receiving the quality medical treatment that they deserve,” Byrd added.

NHSC was created in response to the national health care crises that emerged in the 1950’s and 1960’s. Physicians who served rural communities began to retire, leaving many areas of the country without health care services. Rural states worked together and appealed to Congress for help in establishing the NHSC.