WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, announced she secured $13,085,000 in Congressionally Directed Spending for health care workforce training in the Fiscal Year 2026 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations bill. The legislation was approved by both the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives and has been signed into law.
The funding is aimed at addressing ongoing shortages of trained health care workers in Maine and supporting programs designed to meet increasing demand for medical services across the state.
The funding secured includes $1,000,000 for Central Maine Community College in Auburn to purchase nursing education equipment; $6,510,000 for Eastern Maine Community College in Bangor to construct and equip a nursing and allied health care simulation laboratory and learning center; and $1,900,000 for the University of Maine Farmington to support facilities and equipment for a new Health Care Education Center.
Additional allocations include $1,500,000 for the University of Maine System in Presque Isle to purchase equipment for health care profession programs; $650,000 for Northern Maine Community College in Presque Isle to purchase labor and delivery simulation equipment; $525,000 for the Children’s Oral Health Network of Maine to purchase equipment to train independent practice dental hygienists statewide; and $1,000,000 for the Hanley Center for Health Leadership and Education, doing business as Maine Medical Education Trust, to support certified nursing assistant training for long-term care facilities statewide.
Congress reinstituted Congressionally Directed Spending in 2021. Since then, Senator Collins has secured nearly $1.5 billion for hundreds of Maine projects through Fiscal Years 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2026 to date, using her role as chair of the Appropriations Committee to advance targeted investments for communities across the state.
