Tuesday, April 1, 2025
4/1/2025
Community Project Funding/Congressionally Directed Spending - Construction - Headquartered in Gold Beach, Oregon, Curry Health Network serves Curry County, a rural and remote area of Southwest Oregon with more than 23,000 residents. Curry Health Network operates a Critical Access Hospital in Gold Beach and medical clinics in Gold Beach, Brookings, and Port Orford. The hospital is the only hospital located in Curry County, a region that encompasses 1,628 square miles. The Curry Health Network Chemotherapy Treatment Project has a simple goal: to provide basic chemotherapy care and support to Curry County residents close to their home, improving health outcomes and reducing the impacts from a lack of chemotherapy care in the community. The to-be-constructed infusion center will expand limited infusion services to include chemotherapy treatment within a distinct portion of a planned expansion of Curry General Hospital. The new clinic would provide basic chemotherapy services and support to residents who currently must travel 2-7 hours over significant distances to receive care. When built, Curry County residents will have more support as the County is an isolated region connected north and south by a single coastal route, U.S. Highway 101, which recently made national news when a landslide closed the highway, a closure like many that have occurred in prior years, and which are likely to reoccur in the future. The closure eliminated health resources to the north for Curry County residents receiving essential chemotherapy services; they were faced with dire options including exorbitant travel to the middle of the state in extreme weather conditions, further strain on emergency service transports, or forgoing treatment altogether. Residents of Curry County face many health equity challenges due to the extremely rural and remote nature of the county, the age of its residents and the poverty levels. The county has a median age of 56 years and 34% of the population is over the age of 65. 12.4% of the county residents are below the poverty line and 38.3% of Curry’s patients state that transportation is a barrier accessing health care. Furthermore, the cancer mortality rate in Curry County is 11.8% higher than the state average, and 12.3% higher than the national average – in fact, Curry County’s cancer mortality rate for those age 50> is the highest in the state. Excessive travel is problematic for patients who need to continue working during cancer treatment for financial stability and/or health insurance. Sadly, many residents may find it too difficult to travel for treatment and forgo cancer care altogether, contributing largely to the region’s high mortality rate. The final result will be a new chemotherapy treatment center for patients in Curry County helping to address health inequities faced by residents that are exacerbated by disability, age, poverty, isolation and lack of social and emotional support, food insecurity, low education levels, a high Veteran population, lack of access to care, and long commutes by patients seeking specialist care.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).