Booker Announces $500,000 to City of Paterson for HIV/AIDS Programs

PATERSON, N.J. – Today U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) announced that the City of Paterson has received a $500,000 federal grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for technology upgrades to improve care for patients living with HIV/AIDS by helping health care providers more easily track patient data.

The grant will go directly to support Paterson’s Ryan White HIV/AIDS program for the development of a standardized electronic data collection system. This investment in health information technology will improve Paterson’s capacity to collect data quickly and track and share trends to improve patient outcomes.

The upgrades will allow the Ryan White program to provide real-time data to the Human Resources and Service Administration (HRSA), the primary Federal agency for improving access to health care services for people who are uninsured, isolated, or medically vulnerable.

“With this funding, the city of Paterson can continue to expand its reach within the community to more effectively care for patients,” Sen. Booker said. “The funds will also provide HRSA an opportunity to learn from the experiences in Paterson and help patients in other places. This outstanding program will take on national significance, enabling HRSA to implement lessons-learned to other jurisdictions.”

In April, Sen. Booker wrote to the Health Resources and Services Administration in support of this grant, highlighting Paterson’s strong commitment to the care and treatment of those living with HIV/AIDS.

“I am pleased the City of Paterson has received this generous funding from HRSA for the Special Projects of National Significance (SPNS) award,” said Mayor Jose ‘Joey’ Torres. “The SPNS award will help us build one of the most effective communication sharing, data collection, and tracking systems. “This project will continue to provide an opportunity for our transitional grant area to gather information and will be an important resource for Paterson and Bergen-Passaic Counties. We hope this model will be utilized by HRSA throughout other communities.”