PROVIDENCE, RI – In an effort to boost public health and wellness, U.S. Senator Jack Reed announced $9,159,326 from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to strengthen health care services across Rhode Island and support medical research. The federal funding will support several key health initiatives, from providing medical care and treatment for people living with HIV/AIDS, to emergency medical services for children, to expanding primary care physician and dental residency training, to providing voluntary family planning services to Rhode Islanders who desire them, and bolstering health care services for those in need. The federal funding will also support critical research initiatives into brain science, addiction, nutrition, and more. 

“This federal funding will help deliver comprehensive, accessible medical and dental care to those in need and advance critical research at Brown University,” said Senator Reed, a member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health, and Human Services, which oversees HHS funding. “Every Rhode Islander deserves access to quality, affordable health care.  As a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, I will continue advocating for investments to promote healthy families and communities and bring more federal funding back to Rhode Island.”

The $9.1 million in federal funding flowing to Rhode Island from HHS includes:

$3,621,361 for the Rhode Island Department of Health to administer Ryan White Title II Formula Grants Program.  This funding will support strengthening HIV/AIDS care and treatment services in Rhode Island.

$1,828,006 for Wood River Health Services, Inc. This funding will support providing high-quality, affordable medical, dental and social services to the communities of southwestern Rhode Island.

$1,871,809 for a trio of research initiatives at Brown University, including:

  • $771,600 to support research on drug abuse, addiction, and addressing key barriers within the treatment system.  The study will examine the impact of Medicaid prescription cap policies on treatment outcomes for opioid use disorder.
  • $558,534 for Strong Families Start at Home research, a study examining home-based food parenting/nutrition intervention to improve the diet quality of low-income children.
  • $541,675 to support brain science research testing neural mechanisms of sequence monitoring in the frontal cortex across species: integrated fMRI and electrophysiology.  This research could help better understand issues that patients with frontal lobe damage and Parkinson’s Disease often struggle with. This understanding could contribute to novel treatments and therapies for such disorders.

$1,147,500 for the Rhode Island Department of Health to deliver Family Planning Services.  This funding will support providing voluntary family planning services to Rhode islanders who desire them, especially low-income families.

$500,000 for Thundermist Health Center’s Teaching Health Center Planning and Development Program.  This funding will support improving and expanding primary care physician and dental residency training in community-based patient care settings.

$190,650 for the Rhode Island Department of Health in Emergency Medical Services for Children (EMSC) Partnership Grants, which support projects to expand and improve emergency medical services for children who need treatment for trauma or critical care.