$1.6 Million in Hospital funding Secured

  It's being called a "major victory".
  Close to $1.6 million dollars in funding now secured for 3 hospitals in Western New York.
 Patients here at Orleans Community Health Center have come to count on every program it offers.
 "We provide dialysis services, behavioral health services, emergency services", said President and CEO Jim Sinner.
 If the Health Center didn't exist, patients would have to travel long distances.
The closest comparable hospitals are dozens of miles to the west in Lockport, and to the East in Brockport.
 He added "People in rural communities prefer to stay close to home and get the services there. I think there's a trust factor, a convenience factor as well as a comfort factor."
 That comfort will continue now that funding for the Low Volume Hospital Program has been secured.
 The bill, co-introduced by Senator Chuck Schumer, protects rural hospitals with fewer patients; many struggle with health care costs.
 Locally, the bill will also benefit Noyes Memorial Hospital in Dansville, and Wyoming County Community Hospital in Warsaw.
 Senator Schumer explained. "If you have less than 100 beds as a hospital and you need to buy machines or pay for a fancy technician you have less patients to spread out the cost. Why should people who live in rural areas be deprived of that?"
 The extension will run out again next October, but Sinner hopes having the Senator in his corner will help secure the funding in the future.
 "We take each battle as it comes and hope for the best but there's a lot of ratcheting down as you know in healthcare costs. So, this is just the beginning. October 1, who knows?"
 This year's funding was secured as part of last week's "Fiscal Cliff" legislation.