U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall, D-WV, secured approval by the full House of Representatives of $520,000 in the Fiscal Year Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Appropriations bill for Cabell County projects, including $400,000 to assist with improvements to the St. Mary's Medical Center.

The funding will be used in the relocation and expansion of the Center for Education, which includes the St. Mary's School of Nursing, the St. Mary's School of Radiography and the St. Mary's School of Respiratory Care. To date, Rahall has secured more than $1.4 million for the project, which will allow for a 20 percent increase in enrollment.

"St. Mary's is committed to ensuring a healthy and happy tomorrow and I am proud to play a role in helping this fine Institution carry out this mission," Rahall said. "The doctors, nurses and staff there are public servants in the truest sense."

David Sheils, President of the St. Mary's Medical Center Foundation, thanked Congressman Rahall for his efforts.
"Most people graduating from our schools find employment quickly and most stay here in West Virginia," Sheils said. "The funding secured by Congressman Rahall will allow us to move from the 20th to the 21st century"

The funding, however, will reach much farther than the doors to St. Mary's, Sheils noted.

"This project will benefit whole communities, as these graduates work in our hospitals, they take care of our families," Sheils said. "It creates jobs that are highly needed in this area, and is just one part of our efforts to maintain the needs of healthcare of this region.

St. Mary's Medical Center Foundation schools are fully accredited and are affiliated with Marshall University. The Foundation has also partnered with the Rahall Transportation Institute to educate area children and their families about transportation-related safety through the Transportation Injury Prevention and Safety (TIPS) program.

Rahall also secured $120,000 to be used to further Huntington Junior College's captioning program.

"The captioning specialty at Huntington Junior College is the only one of its kind in the state," Rahall said. "This funding will allow this groundbreaking program to continue to have an impact not only the lives of the students within it, but in the lives of those they will graduate to serve."

The captioning program prepares students for careers in captioning for broadcast television and Internet programs or to work with the deaf or hard-of-hearing population providing instantaneous text translation in education, civic, and corporate settings.

Dr. Cathy Snoddy, Assistant Director of the college, applauded the Congressman's efforts.

"The opportunity that Congressman Rahall is giving the residents of West Virginia to have a high-paying tech job without having to leave the state just shows how he understands the future for West Virginia," said Snoddy. "We appreciate his vision."

The U.S. Senate must now approve its own version of the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Appropriations bill. The two versions will have to be reconciled in a conference committee and then sent back to both bodies for final passage before being presented to the White House to be signed into law.