Ritchie Secures $100,000 for Fort Drum Regional Health Planning Organization

Funding to Strengthen Health Care System for Ft. Drum, Surrounding Communities 

State Senator Patty Ritchie has announced she has secured $100,000 in special funding for the Fort Drum Regional Health Planning Organization (FDRHPO) to help strengthen the local health care system in the communities around Fort Drum and support the continued growth and expansion of the post.

“FDRHPO plays a vital role here in the North Country, supporting our troops and their loved ones by ensuring they have access to quality health care,” said Senator Ritchie.

“Quality health care is a big part of the puzzle when it comes to the continued growth of Fort Drum and the surrounding communities.  I’m pleased to be able to secure this funding, which represents an investment in the post and shows the state’s commitment to protecting and strengthening Fort Drum.”

FDRHPO is an agency that strengthens the North Country health care system for Fort Drum soldiers, their families and the surrounding civilian community by connecting the Military Treatment Facility with the regional health care system and evaluating, planning and strengthening the link between Fort Drum community members and quality health care in Northern New York.

“Senator Ritchie and the Governor clearly understand the critical mission of our North Country health care system to meet the needs of our soldiers, their families and the civilian residents who support them,” said Denise Young, Executive Director of FDRHPO.

“This funding will increase the Fort Drum region’s ability to coordinate care, recruit a healthcare workforce and implement health information technology.” 

The funding represents Senator Ritchie’s latest effort to support Fort Drum, its soldiers and their families.  Recently, she played a key role in securing $500,000 in funding to establish buffer areas around Fort Drum to prevent development outside the base that could impede certain types of training.

In recent years, Senator Ritchie has also secured budget funding to address a critical, regional housing shortage that threatened continued growth of the post, and to also worked to help protect the facility in the event of new federal military budget cuts.