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In the first meeting with
Governor John P. de Jongh, Jr. since his recent appointment to the
position of Director of the U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services Region II, Dr. Jaime Torres announced
the awarding of over one million dollars in grant money
for the development of a new Head Start Center in
Frederiksted, St. Croix and approval of a grant for more
than $230,000 for the Department of Health to plan the
expansion of health information technology in the
territory.
Dr. Torres, whose Region
II oversees New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico and the
Virgin Islands, is in the territory to take part in the
Third Annual Medicare Symposium on Wednesday and
Thursday.
 |
| Governor
John P. de Jongh, Jr. and Lt. Governor Gregory
R. Francis meet with U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Region II Director, Dr. Jaime Torres, September
21, 2010. |
On Tuesday, Dr. Torres
met with Governor de Jongh and announced the grant
awards to the two V.I. government agencies and
participated in a meeting with officials of local
government agencies which provide services funded by HHS.
He and members of his high-level delegation also
participated in a meeting of the governor’s Healthcare
Reform Implementation Task Force. “Dr. Torres gained
first-hand information during meetings in the territory
Tuesday in which he interacted with officials of the
territorial hospitals, the local Medicare office,
community health centers, the departments of Human
Services and Health as well as community volunteers and
senior citizens,” the governor said.
De Jongh said he was
heartened at the announcement today that the Virgin
Islands Department of Human Services would receive $1.3
million dollars in federal grant money for the
development of a new Head Start center in Frederiksted,
St. Croix. “These federal dollars from a one-time
funding source will go a long way towards beginning the
development of a modern Head Start center for our young
people on the west end of St. Croix. Most of the
Frederiksted head start centers are small and isolated
and others are in facilities that need a vast amount of
work. With this funding, we should begin development of
at least a five to six classroom building with an eye to
further expansion as additional funds become
available,” the governor said Tuesday.
The grant in the amount
of $257,540 of which $231,786 is a federal share, will
assist the Health Department in establishing the plan it
must file with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
Services to spend incentive monies in the provider
community for the development and design of health
information technology in accordance with provisions of
The Recovery Act.
The governor said the
visit by Dr. Torres is consistent with the commitment
made by Secretary Kathleen Sebelius during meetings in
Washington, D.C. in which she officered assurances that
all efforts would be made to ensure that programs and
funding would be available to the Virgin Islands and the
other U.S. territories. “Our residents deserve access
to the same programs and services available to all other
U.S. citizens and this week’s visit by Dr. Torres and
his team is indicative of the Obama Administration’s
commitment towards that goal,” he said. |
