CARD clinic receives big financial boost

Come this spring after the snow melts, the Center for Asbestos Related Disease in Libby plans to continue with an expansion project to better serve a steady flow of residents that undergo screenings.

Those plans received a major boost this week with the announcement by Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester that the Senate as part of a larger measure approved a $550,000 appropriation for CARD. The money doubles the prior level of CARD funding in Libby.

“The funding will make it possible to complete our expansion … We’re just bursting at the seams and have been for a couple of years now,” said Tanis Hernandez, CARD outreach coordinator. “This is the space we need to continue to grow and provide patient care.”

CARD has been working in cramped quarters for quite a spell now. Since 2002 when Hernandez arrived, she has seen the number of patients double from 1,400 to 2,800.

“We see about 20 to 25 new patients every month,” she said. “One thing to clarify is that not all of them get diagnosed. A lot of people go through routine screenings because of the latency of the disease. … Some get diagnosed and some don’t.”

CARD’s financial needs include costs involving administration, treatment specialists and research, along with the expansion of its on-site database of medical data.

“This is great news, and one way we are moving forward in the fight to get Libby residents the resources they need,” Baucus said. “This money is going to benefit a lot of people who are victims of asbestos-related disease, not just with those critical first screenings, but with fantastic medical care and research.”

Earlier this year, the Environmental Protection Agency declared the nation’s first public health emergency in Libby, ensuring funding for medical care and cleanup measures will be ongoing.

“It’s organizations like CARD that can really make a difference in people’s lives,” Tester said. “I’m proud of the progress we’re making with getting folks in Libby the help they need, but there’s always more that can be done. This is certainly a step in the right direction.”

CARD’s research will be reaching new levels with the recent announcement of receiving a five-year federal grant that involves a research team from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. The effort will involve collaboration between Mount Sinai researchers, CARD, investigators from the University of Montana and Idaho State University and a national scientific advisory group.

The next phase of the expansion project is expected to go out for bid in the next month or so, Hernandez said.