What's New
UPDATED Health Center Facility Loan Guarantee Program Instructions The HRSA Health Center Facility Loan Guarantee Program (LGP) guarantees up to 80% of financing to support health center capital infrastructure projects for eligible Health Center Program awardees. A guarantee helps health centers access capital funding and reduce financing costs for alteration/renovation, construction or expansion efforts. The updated LGP instructions will assist health centers in applying for the program and offer prospective participants and lenders a comprehensive overview of program eligibility, process, and administrative and policy requirements. Send questions and/or requests for additional information to the LGP Team.
Update to Fiscal Year 2020 Service Area Competition Funding Opportunity HRSA updated the project period end dates for five service areas listed in the Service Area Competition (SAC) funding opportunity HRSA-20-100, from January 31, 2022, to January 31, 2023. The service areas are as follows: Colorado City, AZ; Brownsville, KY; Port Sulphur, LA; Las Vegas, NV; and San Juan, PR.
Applications are due in Grants.gov by 11:59 p.m. ET on Monday, March 9, and in HRSA’s Electronic Handbooks (EHBs) by 5:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday, April 8. Questions? Contact the SAC Response Team.
New Scope of Project 5A Accuracy Tool To support health centers’ continuous compliance, BPHC has released a new tool: Health Center Self-Assessment Worksheet for Form 5A: Services Provided. This tool will help health centers assess and evaluate the accuracy of their HRSA scope of project, specifically the accuracy of Form 5A, and may be used to facilitate conversations between health centers and Project Officers.
Health centers should direct their health center-specific questions on the tool or their scope of project to their Project Officer. Other stakeholders can direct questions to Health Center Program Support online or at 877-464-4772, 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET, Monday-Friday (except federal holidays).
Get Involved in Patient Safety Awareness Week! Patient Safety Awareness Week, March 8-14, is an annual recognition event to increase awareness of health care safety. Get involved!
- Tune in to HRSA’s live webcast featuring a patient safety expert.
Tuesday, March 10 1:00-2:30 p.m. ET Join the webcast the day of the session Call-in: 888-795-3252 Passcode: 3284388
- Join the Conversation: I Support Safe and Reliable Health Care By…
- Think about how your job contributes to patient safety, and write it on this sign.
- Take a photo of you holding the sign.
- Email the photo, the names of people in the photo, and this signed photo release to BPHCpatientsafety@hrsa.gov. NOTE: If multiple people are pictured, we need a completed photo release for each person.
Your photo may be featured in an upcoming issue of the Digest or on HRSA social media. Thank you for keeping patients safe!
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Are You the Next Million Hearts® Hypertension Control Champion? Now is your chance to get recognized for your organization’s successful efforts in the battle against hypertension!
The 2020 CDC Million Hearts® Hypertension Control Champions Challenge will recognize health centers that have achieved 80% blood pressure control (blood pressure reading <140 mmHg/<90 mmHg) among their patients with hypertension aged 18-85 years.
If your health center reached the 80% mark in 2019, we encourage you to apply by Monday, April 6. Read the Hypertension Control Challenge Rules and Eligibility.
In 2019, five health centers were recognized as champions. Let’s at least double that number in 2020! Questions? Contact Cheryl Thompson.
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Telehealth Resource Center Program Request for Information HRSA seeks feedback about a future funding opportunity for the Telehealth Resource Center Program. We may use the responses to inform policy development and program decision making, among other purposes. Find out more or comment by Friday, March 6.
2020 Centering Implementation Awards In 2018, Centering Healthcare Institute (CHI) launched a plan to expand access to the Centering model of group health care in communities where group care can have the greatest impact. They developed a program offering free implementation support and facilitation training to eligible sites—primarily in health centers.
CHI is awarding these services to up to 50 sites on a rolling basis in 2020. Qualified sites can get up to two years of free services to start Centering Pregnancy group prenatal care or Centering Parenting group pediatric care. These awards address the financial barrier to starting Centering that face many centers in resource-limited communities. Learn more and apply now.
Substance Use Disorder & Mental Health
Register Now for National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week® Mark your calendars for a week of SHATTERING THE MYTHS® about drugs, alcohol, and addiction from Monday, March 30, to Sunday, April 5. This is a national health observance linking teens to science-based facts about drugs and alcohol. Learn more or register your event.
National Guidelines for Mental Health Crisis Care: A Best Practices Toolkit SAMHSA is pleased to share its National Guidelines for Mental Health Crisis Care: A Best Practices Toolkit. Crisis services are an integral component of addressing mental illness in communities across the nation. These guidelines are intended to assist states and communities with the development and implementation of effective crisis services and systems.
Nurse Corps Loan Repayment Program Application Cycle is Open See announcement below.
HIV
Promising Practices on Addressing Stigma and HIV in Primary Care Settings Experts from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the HRSA-funded Southeast AIDS Education Training Center will discuss various forms of stigma and how they impact patient outcomes. They will also share stigma reduction resources to assist health centers providing services to people living with HIV.
Thursday, March 5 3:00-4:00 p.m. ET Register here
Diabetes
HRSA Diabetes TA Site Visits To support our Diabetes Quality Improvement Strategy, HRSA has allocated a limited number of diabetes targeted TA visits for this year. During each 1.5-day visit, consultants will assist health centers with developing and/or maximizing diabetes resources, systems, and capacity in order to improve diabetes prevention, monitoring, and treatment. No action plan is required for these visits. If you are interested in receiving on-site diabetes TA, contact Debra Bergen by Monday, March 16.
New Diabetes Action Plan Animated Tutorial This animated video illustrates the key steps related to a year-long diabetes action plan in EHBs. These steps include reviewing the plan and returning it to HRSA, submitting progress updates, and the final resolution. HRSA will focus on the Uniform Data System (UDS) diabetes measure during 2020 operational site visits and diabetes TA visits. This video is a terrific resource for health centers with existing diabetes action plans or new 2020 action plans!
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Diabetes Alert Day – Increase Awareness of Diabetes Risk Tuesday, March 24 is Diabetes Alert Day. This annual event serves as a catalyst for improving awareness of diabetes status and risk. On this day, providers are encouraged to engage in patient education and diabetes testing. CDC’s Prediabetes Risk Test helps individuals understand their personal diabetes risk. This simple test assesses risk factors, and can be completed online in less than a minute; those who find they are at risk can be enrolled in prevention programs.
Improving diabetes care is one of HRSA’s highest priorities and many health centers have developed innovative approaches to diabetes prevention and treatment.
Behind the Label with FDA: The First Major Update to the Nutrition Facts Label in Over Two Decades Join HRSA Registered Dietitian Clinicians for a lunch and learn session with guest presenter Dr. Robin A. McKinnon from the FDA, who will provide information on the first major update to the Nutrition Facts Label in over two decades. Contact Bramaramba Kowtha with questions.
Thursday, March 19 Noon-1:00 p.m. ET Join the webcast the day of the session Call-in: 888-469-1606 Passcode: 6327121
Workforce
Nurse Corps Loan Repayment Program Application Cycle is Open HRSA’s Nurse Corps Loan Repayment Program is accepting applications until 7:30 p.m. ET, on Thursday, March 12. As part of HRSA's efforts to combat the nation's opioid crisis, there is special funding this year for psychiatric nurse practitioners. The goal is to increase the nursing workforce at critical shortage facilities and provide evidence-based care to patients in need of opioid use disorder and behavioral health treatment.
NACHC Year of the Nurse 2020: Nurses Leading with Care Join NACHC and celebrate community health center nurses and midwives by participating in the Year of the Nurse campaign. Let nurses know how much they contribute to health centers and their communities by nominating them to be featured in NACHC communications throughout the year.
HRSA Launches Clinician Dashboards The Clinician Dashboards display alumni data from HRSA's scholarship, loan repayment, and graduate medical education programs. They allow users to analyze the distribution of HRSA programs and participants from 2012-2018. Visit the new dashboard to see how HRSA programs connect skilled professionals to communities in need.
Connecticut Primary Care Association Starts a Domestic Violence ECHO Health centers that want to become Domestic Violence Ambassadors can nominate staff to participate in the inaugural cohort of the Domestic Violence Project ECHO presented by the Connecticut Primary Care Association. The eight-month long ECHO begins Thursday, March 12, and meets the second and fourth Thursdays of each month from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. ET. It will address intimate partner violence and human trafficking. For more information, contact Shaquille Pigatt.
Additional Resources
Recording Available for Addressing Hard-to-Control Hypertension: Let Us Count the Ways Missed last week’s Heart Month webinar? View the recording to learn about factors that contribute to resistant hypertension and evidence-based options for treatment and control.
National Quality Initiative to Improve School Health The School-Based Health Alliance, a HRSA-funded NCA, invite states to apply to participate in a yearlong school-based health center Collaborative Improvement and Innovation Network (CoIIN) focused on making measurable improvements in the health of students during the 2020-21 school year. Successful applicants will form a CoIIN team comprising both state and local partners, including at least five school-based health centers. Learn more or apply by Tuesday, March 31.
Analysis of Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Health Outcomes at Health Centers: UDS 2018 Report This report, developed by the Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations (AAPCHO, a HRSA-funded NCA), examines the impact of chronic disease outcomes of Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders (NHPIs) at health centers. It highlights the similarities and differences between NHPI-, NH-, and PI-serving health centers to health centers in the continental U.S., Hawai’i, and the Pacific region. It aims to improve understanding of NHPI communities served by health centers, and to help identify priorities and opportunities to improve NHPI health.
Teen Pregnancy in the Hispanic Population Living in Public Housing: The Importance of Prevention The National Center for Health in Public Housing, a HRSA-funded NCA, presents a new learning collaborative that will explore the role of Community Health Workers in teen pregnancy initiatives for the Hispanic population living in public housing. Learn more or register.
What Are Heated Tobacco Products? CDC recently published a primer on heated tobacco products (which are different than e-cigarettes). These products heat processed tobacco leaves to create a harmful inhalable aerosol. They are NOT an FDA-approved method for quitting smoking. Visit CDC’s site to learn about the health effects associated with the use of heated tobacco products, who is using them, and how these products compare to traditional cigarette and e-cigarette use.
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