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Pennsylvania ponders its lack of bioterrorism grant distribution

Emergency Management Alert, November 30, 2004

With the state of Pennsylvania ranking last in the nation to distribute federal bioterrorism grants to hospitals and public health agencies, officials are beginning to wonder why they're lagging so far behind other states, the Pittsburgh Tribune Review reported.

A survey by the Association of State and Territorial Health Officers revealed the Pennsylvania Department of Health still had a third-about $16.5 million-of its $49.6 million bioterrorism preparedness allocation on August 31.

"I think it certainly opened our eyes. I think this report for our purposes is going to make us reassess how we're doing things," state Health Department spokesman Richard McGarvey told the Review.

Federal officials are encouraging Pennsylvania to distribute the money as quickly as possible, he said.

The grant money was earmarked for projects such as improving surge capacity at hospitals, purchasing decontamination units and air filtration systems. It also has been used for projects as diverse as putting an electronic disease reporting system online statewide, building a real-time disease surveillance system, and beefing up public health staffing.

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