Patty Murray

What I would like to see is more focus on what is relevant in rural communities.

I would say stability in reimbursement is one of the barriers.

That's a very antiquated assumption, that if you increase telemedicine, you're going to increase costs.

I'm really proud that our hospitals have been recognized as national leaders in increasing the quality and safety of care.

In Washington, as Senator Murray pointed out, we've identified about 10 very small critical access hospitals that might be facing imminent closure.

Talk to me about how the additional resources that you requested for the National Health Service Corps in the budget help address shortages like we have in rural Washington.

The agreement the President recently signed into law to fix the broken SGR system took important steps to support access to healthcare in rural areas.

Community health centers are essential to increasing access to primary care for America's most vulnerable and rural populations.

I completely agree. I've seen this working in my State. Where you practice and do your residency really makes a difference on where you stay.

What kind of healthcare providers are most needed in our rural communities?

I'm proud that Washington State is doing so much to tackle it head on.

It's fascinating to me that just that human touch on somebody... reduces costs in the long run.

The National Health Service Corps provides critical support to physicians and other providers that agree to work in our rural and underserved areas.

I'm pleased we were able to agree in a bipartisan way to sustain those investments, and I hope we will be able to do even more moving forward.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for calling this hearing on such an important topic.

I'm very pleased to welcome all of our witnesses who are here today, but I'm particularly excited to welcome Julie Petersen.

I'm a strong supporter of HRSA's health care work force training programs.

No servicemember should live in fear of sexual assault.

This program is a critical part of the progress we are seeing so far.

I believe it is important to give students a strong voice at the table when we create Federal policies.

I'm also interested in the economic impact of this work.

What can Congress do to help all patients and families get the safest, most effective treatments and cures more quickly?

I am proud of the progress we have been able to make for survivors of trafficking and that we were able to use community health centers funding to help this very vulnerable population at a time when they need it the most.

We want to inspire people to come in. If they think there is no chance or we are losing a lot of our knowledge, as we have an aging cohort, I think that is troubling.

We think of the participants in this particular study not just as subjects or patients. They are participants.