Wednesday, Rep. Cindy Axne (IA-03) announced $432,748 in grants from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for three health centers in Iowa’s Third Congressional District. The grants will help reinforce efforts to treat and combat further outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Iowa.
The grants were awarded with funding that Rep. Axne voted to pass earlier this month in Congress’ first coronavirus emergency funding bill.
“These health centers and others like them are on the front lines of fighting the coronavirus outbreak in Iowa, and they need all the resources and supplies they can get to aid their work,” said Rep. Axne. “These grants will help reinforce their efforts – and I will continue to work here in Iowa and in Washington to get additional supplies and funding to the men and women working around the clock to keep Iowans healthy and safe.”
The grants were awarded to:
- Primary Health Care Inc. in Urbandale, two grants of $105,400 each
- Proteus Inc. in Des Moines, two grants of $54,416 each
- All Care Health Center in Council Bluffs, two grants of $56,558 each
Rep. Axne has also been focused on mitigating shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) and other supplies at Iowa hospitals and health centers.
Last week, Rep. Axne wrote to HHS to demand immediate assurances that the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) would provide PPE to help with shortages already being reported in Iowa.
Rep. Axne also led a bipartisan letter with more than 60 of her colleagues to the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) and the U.S. Department of Defense that urged them to utilize U.S. trade relationships to prevent additional shortages of PPE.
After Axne’s letter, the USTR committed to removing tariffs on masks, ventilators, and other critical medical supplies being imported into the United States.
