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State Sen. George Borrello announced that six health care providers serving the 57th Senate District will receive more than $8.5 million in federal funding for New York's Rural Community Health Integration Initiative.
The investment is part of the broader federal Rural Health Transformation Program, a $50 billion, five-year initiative established under the Working Families Tax Cuts Act, also known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
The state is using $76.2 million of its first year of federal funding for the Rural Community Health Integration Initiative. The initiative is designed to support regional partnerships to improve coordination among hospitals, primary care and behavioral health providers and community organizations, while expanding residents' access to health and social services.
Area awards include:
-- Chautauqua Health Network, Jamestown: $1,838,750.
-- The Chautauqua Center, Jamestown: $1 million.
-- Westfield Memorial Hospital, Westfield: $1.25 million.
Borrello emphasized the longstanding funding and access challenges facing rural health care providers and the importance of the new federal support.
"While Albany continues to burden our already overwhelmed rural health care system with a Medicaid program plagued by waste and fraud and has failed to address the loss of critical services, the federal government is stepping up," Borrello said. "The $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program represents a historic commitment to strengthening rural health care across America. This investment recognizes the very real challenges facing rural providers and gives them resources to preserve access, strengthen services and keep quality care available close to home."
Borrello said the $8.5 million coming to the 57th Senate District will give local providers greater resources to strengthen regional partnerships and address the needs of the communities they serve.
"Our rural providers understand the needs of their patients and communities better than anyone," Borrello said. "This funding will help them build stronger networks, improve coordination of care and expand access to services for residents across our region."
Borrello also credited Western New York's congressional representatives for helping advance the federal legislation that made the investment possible.
"This unprecedented commitment to rural health care is critically needed, and I want to thank our federal partners, Congressman Nick Langworthy and Congresswoman Claudia Tenney, for their advocacy for our rural communities and their work in Congress to advance this legislation," Borrello said. "Their efforts are now translating into real resources for providers and patients here in Western New York."