Congressman Gerry Connolly announced today that the Greater Prince William County Community Health Center (GPWCHC) in Woodbridge is receiving $1.097 million in economic recovery act funds to help it continue providing affordable health care to thousands of underserved Prince William County residents.

“This nonprofit clinic, which provided affordable health care to more than 8,000 Prince William residents last year alone, has been struggling to survive as funding sources dried up when the economy went sour,” Connolly said. “Now that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 is law, we were able to highlight the importance of this health center in Prince William County and work to secure the much needed federal funding for the facility.”

This morning, Congressman Connolly’s office notified GPWCHC Executive Director Frank Principi, who is also Prince William County’s Woodbridge District Supervisor, about the grant.  Connolly worked with Principi to secure funding to maintain and expand the level of service at the clinic.  Because of the current economic climate, the number of residents the GPWCHC serves is expected to grow substantially.

Congressman Connolly said the economic recovery funding for the Woodbridge-based clinic will be administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Services Administration.  He said that the GPWCHC is one of 126 health centers across the nation receiving funding to administer and expand access to primary and preventive health care services to underserved residents, many of whom have no health insurance.

“This funding will preserve jobs and expand much needed health care services in Prince William County,” Connolly said.  Overall, health centers in Virginia today received a total of $5.7 million in Economic Recovery funding.  It is expected that the funding will help community health centers service nearly 25,000 patients this year across the state, Connolly said.