WASHINGTON – The Senate Appropriations Committee has approved the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education spending bill, legislation that includes $500,000 for Memorial Hospital in Gulfport, funding secured by U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker.  

The funds are designated to assist with the build-out and renovation of space within Memorial’s medical office building to establish a medical oncology clinic.  The clinic will provide urgently-needed medical oncology services to all citizens of the Mississippi Gulf Coast, regardless of their ability to pay.   

“Currently, Medicaid and uninsured cancer patients must choose between treatment at qualified clinics three hours away or delayed treatment as they wait for a bed to become available at Memorial,” Sen. Wicker said.  “These funds will help open a new clinic with the capacity to treat more than 900 cancer patients in its first year of operation, helping Memorial Hospital remain one of the Gulf Coast’s premier cancer centers.  I look forward to working with Sen. Cochran to ensure this important funding is advanced as this bill moves through the remainder of the legislative process.”  

Gary Marchand, President and CEO of Memorial Hospital, was pleased with the news from Sen. Wicker’s office.  "The awarding of these funds by the Senate will allow Memorial to expand our cancer services to improve access to cancer treatments for the residents of our community,” Marchand said.  “We will continue to move forward with our plans for the development of a new outpatient chemotherapy clinic." 

The 2009 Labor-HHS appropriations bill has cleared the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pension committee and now awaits consideration by the full Senate.   

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