The recent federal funding package for fiscal year 2024 shows support for WSU priorities in the health science space.
WSU’s Indigenous Health Simulation Center will receive $1.47 million as part of a congressionally directed spending request that was supported by Senator Patty Murray, a testimony to the importance of WSU’s work in this space. The Center is housed on the WSU Spokane campus and serves students, staff, and faculty across all campuses and tribes across the Pacific Northwest.
The Indigenous Health Simulation Center is part of WSU’s Native American Health Sciences program, which offers pathway and support programs meant to recruit, matriculate, and help Native American students succeed.
“This federal investment in the knowledge, wisdom, and healthways of our Indigenous clinicians will help educate our current and future healthcare workforce in the knowledge and culturally proficient skill sets needed to help end the disparities experienced by our Indigenous patients,” said Naomi Bender, director of WSU’s Native American Health Sciences. “We are grateful for this legislative commitment to tribal communities and the health of our people in Washington state, as well as tribal nations across this country who have been waiting and ready to be heard in ways that honor their health, families, and communities.”
ADDITIONAL FUNDING OF INTEREST:
National Institutes of Health (NIH): $47.08 billion
($943 million increase from FY23)
- NIH brings tremendous benefits to the entire WSU system and Washington state as a whole. According to United for Medical Research, NIH awarded $1.46 billion in grants and contracts during FY2022 directly contributing 20,667 jobs and $3.567 billion in economic activity across Washington state.
- WSU has been awarded 1,111 NIH grants from FY2016 through FY2022, including flow through funding, totaling over $295.2 million in research funds. WSU researchers have received funding from 28 NIH Offices/Institutes/Centers/Programs. While much of this activity is centered in Pullman, Spokane, and Vancouver, the reach is statewide and includes a wide array of colleges across the entire WSU system, encompassing 26 discipline areas that work with both human and animal subjects. It is an investment with a measurable and impactful return to Washington’s communities.
Title VII Health Professions Education and Training and Title VIII Nursing Workforce Development: $815.8 million
($6.1 million increase from FY23)
- The HRSA Title VII Health Professions Programs and Title VIII Nursing Workforce Development Programs aim to improve the supply, geographic distribution, and diversity of the health workforce through education, community-based training, and financial aid. The Title VII and VIII programs are designed to meet the growing needs of health care professionals, improve the diversity of the health workforce, and ensure access to quality care for all populations.
- All health sciences students at WSU take part in interprofessional education (IPE) that supports these programmatic aims by providing experiences in rural, remote, and underserved communities and preparing nursing, medicine, and pharmacy students for careers in team-based health care.
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ): $369 million
($4.5 million decrease from FY23)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: $9.22 billion
($4.5 million increase from FY23)
- The pandemic presented real life examples of the value of assertive disease surveillance and detecting diseases early enough to deliver the rest of the nation and the world an early warning. WSU’s faculty and researchers provided support ranging from disease surveillance and vaccination efforts in Kenya; to mathematical modeling on COVID’s impact on U.S. healthcare capacity; to monitoring wastewater and sewage for the detection of COVID-19 hotspots in eastern Washington and internationally in Guatemala.
- From FY2020 through FY2022, the CDC has awarded WSU 47 awards, including flow through funding, totaling over $33.8 million in research funds. WSU researchers have received funding across the state in Pullman, Spokane, and Vancouver. These include awards to College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine, College of Nursing, College of Veterinary Medicine, and Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA): $7.45 billion ($70 million decrease from FY23)
- The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is the agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that leads public health efforts to advance the behavioral health of the nation. The agency is primarily responsible for supporting community-based treatment and prevention services aligned with its mission to reduce the impact of substance abuse and mental illness on America’s communities.
- SAMHSA has awarded WSU 56 awards from FY2020 through FY2022, including flow through funding, totaling over $12.3 million in research funds. WSU researchers have received funding across the state in Pullman, Spokane, and Vancouver. These include awards to the College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences, Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine, Murrow College of Communication, College of Nursing, Office of Research, and Student Affairs.
To learn more about recent federal and state support for WSU, visit https://news.wsu.edu/news/2024/03/21/state-and-federal-budget-plans-include-support-for-wsu/ and the Office of External Affairs and Government Relations.