WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced today that the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) awarded a $658,427 competitive grant to Owensboro Health Muhlenberg Community Hospital (OHMCH) to continue providing health screenings for Kentucky miners and to purchase new equipment for its Coal Miners Clinic.

Senator McConnell, who contacted HRSA on behalf of OHMCH, said: “This funding will enable the Coal Miners Clinic at Owensboro Health Muhlenberg Community Hospital to continue providing black lung screening assessments to miners from 12 counties in Western Kentucky. These screenings are necessary for miners to apply for black lung benefits from the state and federal government.”

Donald Givens, Director of the Coal Miners Clinic at Owensboro Health Muhlenberg Community Hospital, said: "Owensboro Health Muhlenberg Community Hospital would like to extend its appreciation to Senator Mitch McConnell and his staff for writing a letter of recommendation for the Coal Miners Clinic in its recent HRSA grant application for federal funding to support black lung testing of miners in Western Kentucky. The CMC has been grant funded since 1975 and with HRSA assistance it allows OHMCH the privilege to care for miners in 12 counties. The HRSA grant is used to pay salaries, purchase equipment and provide pulmonary care to miners in our area. The CMC is one of 2 federally funded clinics in the state of Kentucky.”