Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday hailed continued increases in state spending on Alzheimer’s research while also signing a measure that calls on the Department of Health to educate health care providers on the warning signs of Alzheimer’s and dementia.

DeSantis signed SB 806 at a ceremony held at Broward Health Sports Medicine in Fort Lauderdale, where he was joined by local officials as well as the CEO of a medical device company pushing ahead with a type of noninvasive brain treatment.

Roughly 580,000 people over the age of 65 live with Alzheimer’s disease in Florida, the second-highest population in the nation. That number is projected to jump to 720,000 in three years.

DeSantis noted during his remarks there was an additional $21 million in increased funding for Alzheimer’s programs in the Department of Elder Affairs in the state Fiscal Year 2022-23 budget that kicks in July 1.

The Governor said there has been a 60% increase in Alzheimer’s-related funding since he took office in January 2019. The amount spent on the Alzheimer’s disease initiative has grown more during his four years in office than it did during the eight years when Rick Scott was Governor, DeSantis said.