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***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*** FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: PRESIDENT’S BUDGET INCLUDES $8.3 MILLION FOR NEW STAFF AT NEW FORT BERTHOLD MEDICAL CENTER The Fiscal Year 2011 budget that President Obama submitted to Congress earlier this month includes an increase of $8.3 million to the Indian Health Services budget to pay for 88 new staff at the Elbowoods Memorial Rural Health Facility now under construction in New Town. On top of the 44 staff presently employed at the Minne Tohe clinic, the new facility will have 132 positions. The increase includes funds for additional doctors, nurses, physician assistants, emergency medical technicians, and support staff. The present clinic is 8000 square feet and is only open 8-5 Monday through Friday. The new facility, when completed next year, will contain 36,000 square feet and be available seven days a week, 24 hours a day. When Congress funds the construction of a new health care facility through the Indian Health Service, moeny for the additional new staff are automatically included in the budget. However, Congress funded the construction of the Elbowoods facility through the Army Corps of Engineers because it was the Corps that built the Garrison Dam that flooded the old Elbowoods Hospital in the 1950s. As a result, it took a major effort by Three Affiliated Tribal Chairman Marcus Levings and the North Dakota Congressional delegation to persuade the Obama administration to include the $8.3 million for the new staff in the FY 11 budget request. Chairman Levings and his team made numerous trips to Washington over the past year to argue the for this additional funding in front of senior officials in the Administration. Senators Dorgan and Conrad and Congressman Pomeroy, working from their powerful positions on key Congressional Committee, obtained commitments from the Administration to support the funding. However, the contents of the budget are a tightly kept secret so it was not until the President submitted his budget to Congress in early February that the Tribe and Delegation were assured the funding was in the budget. The President’s budget is just the first step in getting the funds. The House and Senate must enact an appropriations bill for the Indian Health Service and send it to the President for his signature, probably sometime this coming Fall. Either the House or the Senate has the right to make changes in the President’s budget request. However, given the strong support from the North Dakota Congressional delegation, it is highly unlikely that the $8.3 million will be removed from the final appropriations bill that Congress will send to the President. The new Elbowoods facility is scheduled to open in mid-2011. When it opens with the additional staffing, it will be the successful conclusion to a long and arduous process. When the old facility was flooded in the 1950s, Congress promised the Tribe that it would fund a replacement facility. But year after year, Congress refused to keep that promise. Finally, in 2008, almost 60 years after the old facility was destroyed, Congress, through the combined efforts of Chairman Levings and the North Dakota Congressional Delegation, were able to persuade Congress to provide $20 million for the new facility. After 2008 and 2009 were spent preparing the architectural and engineering drawings, the Tribe held a groundbreaking ceremony on October 19, 2009. Construction by Marion Construction Company. began a week later. While work was shut down for the winter, it recently started up again. Beginning with the installation of the utilities and outdoor lighting. The facility is north of Fort Berthold Community College on the east side of New Town. -END-
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