Academy News: Success on the Hill
Tom Gorski, CAE
Description
Collection
Title:
Academy News: Success on the Hill
Creator:
Tom Gorski, CAE
Date:
7/24/2002
Text:
ACADEMY SECURES FIRST HURDLE
IN PREVENTING O&P FUNDING CUTS
The Senate Appropriations Committee took action late last week and passed the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Appropriations Bill. The Senate Report accompanying that funding bill was published today in the Congressional Record and includes language which will effectively save Orthotic and Prosthetic Long Term Training programs at universities across the country.
The Rehabilitation Services Administration has been dramatically reducing the support that it provides to the nation's orthotic and prosthetic schools through its Long Term Training program over the past few years. This has had the unintended consequence of at least one premier O&P education school discontinuing their program. At the same time, the need for orthotic and prosthetics service is expected to increase by 25 percent for orthotic care and by 47 percent for prosthetic care by 2020, largely the result of an aging population with chronic diseases and associated disabilities. The Rehabilitation Services Administration recently announced its plans to discontinue funding O&P Long Term Training programs altogether.
Working with Senator Harkin, Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education, the Academy was able to secure--and increase--funding for O&P schools. These vital resources will enable schools to bring more practitioners into the field to improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of individuals who require orthotic and prosthetic devices, remarked Frank Bostock, CO, FAAOP, President of the American Academy of Orthotists and Prosthetists.
This is key to our survival, said Scott Hornbeak, CPO, director of the P&O program at California State University - Dominguez Hills. This funding will allow us to bridge the gap between the present school deficit and the next cycle of longer term grant funding. Dominguez Hills will stay open. We're very appreciative of the Academy's work in this area.
The Academy now plans to work with the House of Representatives to secure similar language in their bill. Senator Harkin's efforts will ensure that 4 schools will receive funding of $250,000 a year to provide long-term training for O&P students.
IN PREVENTING O&P FUNDING CUTS
The Senate Appropriations Committee took action late last week and passed the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Appropriations Bill. The Senate Report accompanying that funding bill was published today in the Congressional Record and includes language which will effectively save Orthotic and Prosthetic Long Term Training programs at universities across the country.
The Rehabilitation Services Administration has been dramatically reducing the support that it provides to the nation's orthotic and prosthetic schools through its Long Term Training program over the past few years. This has had the unintended consequence of at least one premier O&P education school discontinuing their program. At the same time, the need for orthotic and prosthetics service is expected to increase by 25 percent for orthotic care and by 47 percent for prosthetic care by 2020, largely the result of an aging population with chronic diseases and associated disabilities. The Rehabilitation Services Administration recently announced its plans to discontinue funding O&P Long Term Training programs altogether.
Working with Senator Harkin, Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education, the Academy was able to secure--and increase--funding for O&P schools. These vital resources will enable schools to bring more practitioners into the field to improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of individuals who require orthotic and prosthetic devices, remarked Frank Bostock, CO, FAAOP, President of the American Academy of Orthotists and Prosthetists.
This is key to our survival, said Scott Hornbeak, CPO, director of the P&O program at California State University - Dominguez Hills. This funding will allow us to bridge the gap between the present school deficit and the next cycle of longer term grant funding. Dominguez Hills will stay open. We're very appreciative of the Academy's work in this area.
The Academy now plans to work with the House of Representatives to secure similar language in their bill. Senator Harkin's efforts will ensure that 4 schools will receive funding of $250,000 a year to provide long-term training for O&P students.
Citation
Tom Gorski, CAE, “Academy News: Success on the Hill,” Digital Resource Foundation for Orthotics and Prosthetics, accessed November 1, 2024, https://library.drfop.org/items/show/219213.
