Published December 1991 — Download PDF of the original newspaper column
Byrd's-Eye View By U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd Improving Health Care in West Virginia The cost and availability of health care are becoming major concerns for increasing numbers of West Virginians. According to a recent insurance company study, West Virginia ranks 49th among the states in access to health care. The American Cancer Society estimates that cancer deaths in West Virginia run roughly 6 percent higher than the national average. To the extent that the federal government provides health care services and resources to the states, I have succeeded in obtaining funding for a number of health care programs to give West Virginians readier access to important health care services. My efforts include the establishment and upgrading of Veterans Medical Centers in Beckley, Clarksburg, Huntington, and Martinsburg; funding for black lung clinics and community health centers in West Virginia; and enhanced federal funding for rural health care grants. In addition, to provide West Virginians with state-of- the-art cancer treatment, I obtained a total of $13.3 million a few years ago to establish West Virginia's first statewide cancer research and treatment center, located in Morgantown. Prior to the establishment of this center, many seriously ill cancer patients were forced to go out of state to seek treatment. Further, I have secured approximately $4 million annually to fund a statewide program in West Virginia for screening, education, and early detection of cervical and breast cancer. In addition, I added $14.2 million to appropriations bills last year for Alzheimer's disease research and services in West Virginia to be conducted by the West Virginia University and Marshall University medical schools. This year, I added $700,000 for an Alzheimer's disease center in Parkersburg and $500,000 for a rural health care clinic in McDowell County. Moreover, I added report language to an appropriation bill requesting up to $1 million annually for five years to establish a trauma treatment demonstration program at WVU, and $800,000 to establish a statewide telecommunications system linking the WVU Health Sciences Center and rural hospitals across West Virginia. In the area of occupational health, I have obtained a total of $49.6 million to establish a national occupational safety and health laboratory in Morgantown that is intended to research ways to improve health and safety in the workplace. Rural states like West Virginia deserve the best health care possible, and I shall continue working to improve health care in our state in every way that I can. December 18, 1991