CHRC receives 71 applications in response to this year's Call for Proposals

The Call for Proposals released earlier this year by the CHRC generated 71 applications requesting $17 million in year-one funding (total funding requested was $31.7 million).  The Call for Proposals targeted four types of projects:  1. Promoting access to comprehensive women’s health services and reducing infant mortality rates (4 applications received, $700,000 requested in year one); 2.  Expanding access to dental care services (12 applications received, $1.5 million requested in year one); 3. Integrating behavioral health service delivery and addressing the heroin and opioid epidemic (20 applications received, $4.5 million requested in year one); and 4.  Expanding access to primary and preventative care services and chronic disease management (35 applications received, $10.3 million requested in year one).  Proposals are currently being evaluated by independent reviewers and CHRC staff on the review criteria listed in the Call for Proposals.  The top scoring applicants will be invited to present to the CHRC in March.  Grant award decisions are anticipated to be made by the CHRC Commissioners immediately following these presentations.

Total Health Care invited to present at the annual National Network of Oral Health Access

Total Health Care (Total), an FQHC in Baltimore City, received a three-year, $180,000 grant from the CHRC to provide dental services to pregnant women patients.  The program is a collaboration between Total and Mercy Hospital to ensure all pregnant women patients of the FQHC who are seen by Mercy OB providers will receive the benefit of integrated OB and dental care.  The Total dental program offers an innovative community-hospital partnership that can serve as a model for other areas of the state.

Total was invited to present this program at the 2015 Annual Meeting of the National Network of Oral Health Access in Indianapolis, Indiana.  The focus of the conference was “Interprofessional Collaboration to Improve Oral Health Access and Outcomes.”  To see the full presentation, click here.  Total Health Care also presented this work at a poster session in August at the National Association of Community Health Centers, 2015 Community Health Institute, in Orlando, Florida.

 The CHRC has awarded 26 dental grants totaling $5.8 million. These grants have collectively served more than 46,500 Marylanders.  For more information about these grants, click here.  

CHRC grantees named "Minogue Award Circle of Honor" winners

Two CHRC grantees, Calvert Memorial Hospital (CMH) and HealthCare Access Maryland (HCAM) with their hospital partner, LifeBridge Health/Sinai Hospital, have been chosen as top 10 "Minogue Award Circle of Honor" winners out of a pool of 78 submissions by the Maryland Patient Safety Center.  CMH has been a recipient of two CHRC grants to increase access to primary care and to expand safety net capacity and is currently collaborating with the Calvert County Health Department in a 2015 CHRC-funded behavioral health/ED diversion program.  CMH’s submission included this collaborative project aimed at improving outpatient care for hospital high-utilizers with behavioral health problems.

The HCAM/Sinai submission describes the CHRC-funded collaboration that targets super-utilizers of the Sinai Emergency Department.  The program was supported by a CHRC grant awarded in FY 2014 and has resulted in an estimated hospital savings of $632,392 in the first eighteen months.  HCAM/Sinai has also been asked to present their work at the Maryland Patient Safety Center’s Annual Conference on March 18, 2016. 

The award winners will be honored at a reception at the Baltimore Hilton on March 17, 2016.  For more information about the Maryland Patient Safety Center, click here. For information about the 2016 Annual Maryland Patient Safety Center Conference, click here.  For more information about the HCAM/LifeBridge program, click here.

CHRC invited to present to the House Health and Governmental Operations Committee

The CHRC’s presentation to the Maryland House Health and Governmental Operations (HGO) Committee on January 20, 2016 provided an overview of the CHRC, the impact of its funding, and the most recent CHRC Call for Proposals.  The CHRC’s presentation to HGO highlighted the work of four grantees who also presented:  Health Care Access Maryland - Sinai/LifeBridge; Access Carroll; Calvert Health Department; and Greater Baden Medical Services.  Click here to view the full CHRC and grantee presentation.