What's New
Million Hearts® Innovation Competition Applications Due Next Week
CDC has a national cooperative agreement with the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) aimed at reducing heart attacks and strokes. (NACHC is also a HRSA-funded National Training and Technical Assistance Partner (NTTAP).)
As part of this effort, NACHC’s Million Hearts® Innovation Competition seeks to fund organizations with innovative strategies aligned with the Million Hearts® 2022 goals and priority populations. They will fund proposals that demonstrate feasible and impactful approaches to prevent cardiovascular events with the vision to share these innovations nationally. Applications are due by Tuesday, November 24. Learn more in the request for proposals (which includes the application link) or this recorded webinar for potential applicants.
FY 2020 Primary Care HIV Prevention Grantee Progress Reporting TA
We invite grantees and Project Officers to join us to review key project requirements for FY 2020 Primary Care HIV Prevention (PCHP), the progress report components and schedule, and reporting resources. We will also answer grantee questions.
Wednesday, December 2
2:00-3:00 p.m. ET
Join the webcast the day of the session
Call-in: 888-950-7567
Passcode: 9902759
The progress report module opens in EHBs on Tuesday, December 1, and is due on Tuesday, December 15.
Health Center Facility Loan Guarantee Program Toolkit
Capital Link, a HRSA-funded NTTAP, developed this Health Center Facility Loan Guarantee Program Toolkit. It provides application tips and tools for preparing a capital project, collecting the materials needed to submit an application, and navigating the application process efficiently.
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BPHC REACH at our Upcoming Today with Macrae
We’ll talk about BPHC REACH at our upcoming session (2:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday, December 1). If you’ve missed them, here are some recent REACH updates:
- The Advance Health Center Quality and Performance Initiative hosted the Advancing Health Center Excellence webinar on the new ways BPHC is thinking about measuring health center performance.
- The Streamline and Enable Compliance Initiative recently sent emails to health centers with a virtual Operational Site Visit (OSV) planned for 2020. These emails contain tips to help those health centers prepare documentation for their virtual OSV and avoid non-compliance.
- The September 17 Today with Macrae webcast featured a panel on health equity. Watch the recording to learn more about what BPHC REACH is doing to improve equitable health outcomes for all patients.
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Join Us to Celebrate National Rural Health Day
HRSA recognizes the annual observance with online activities all week. HHS Deputy Secretary Eric Hargan, HRSA Administrator Tom Engels, and Jeff Colyer, Chair of the National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services, will kick off events on the actual day (Thursday, November 19).
Other HRSA events include a virtual rural job fair and webinars focused on the rural response to COVID-19, social determinants of health, and telehealth. One of these is the Office of Regional Operations’ “Introducing Telehealth to Rural and Indigenous Communities.” This free, 1.5-day workshop introduces telehealth for rural and indigenous communities. This workshop takes place on Wednesday, November 18, and Thursday, November 19.
Opportunity to Comment on AHRQ’s Draft Report on Vaccine Safety
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) invites the public to comment on their draft Safety of Vaccines Used for Routine Immunization in the United States: An Update. Based on a systematic review of the evidence, this report assesses the safety of vaccines recommended for children, adults, and pregnant women. The list of vaccines is based on CDC’s immunization schedules and includes only those currently licensed for use in the U.S. by the FDA. The review addresses both individual and combination vaccines in use. Comment by Monday, November 23.
COVID-19
Health Centered on COVID-19
Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. Health centers across the nation have distinguished themselves in responding to the current pandemic. Here’s a recent example:
The Community Health Centers of Burlington (CHCB) (Burlington, VT) acted early and decisively in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, rapidly reducing in-person services, consolidating locations, and transitioning to telehealth. HRSA funding was integral to CHCB’s ability to continue offering seamless medical, psychiatric, and counseling appointments, as the funding allowed CHCB’s IT Team to rapidly put technologies and systems in place so staff could work remotely. This quick transition enhanced safety for both staff and patients.
Additionally, CHCB worked with the City of Burlington, State of Vermont, and nonprofit partners to operate a drive-through testing site, and conducted mobile outreach/testing to homeless populations using a van loaned by a community partner.
Through further HRSA financial support, CHCB recently purchased their own outreach van, allowing for expansion of medical outreach visits for disease management and preventive care, immunizations, care coordination, mental health services, and COVID-19 testing. CHCB’s Youth Program will use the van to provide care and support to at-risk or homeless youth. This approach will help revolutionize how they provide health care to the community’s most vulnerable individuals in the face of COVID-19.
Learn more about CHCB’s efforts to expand access to services provided through their Homeless Healthcare Program.
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Let Us Know about Your Efforts to Respond to COVID-19
Please share how your health center is helping your community address COVID-19 through use of HRSA funding. Here’s how you can tell us about your successes and innovative efforts:
- Send a brief description of your health center’s COVID-19 response to our Health Center Stories inbox.
- You’re welcome to include a photo of the staff involved. Please include names of everyone in the picture and make sure each person featured in your photo has signed a HRSA Photo Release Form. Include the signed forms in your email. NOTE: Picture should include ONLY health center staff—not patients!
We may share your photo or story in future editions of the Digest or on HRSA social media.
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COVID-19 Health Center Survey – We Want to Hear from You
Have you completed this week’s survey to help us understand your health center’s needs and how we can help? Your feedback will help us provide information and resources most relevant to your needs in the ongoing fight against COVID-19. As always, thank you for sharing your invaluable insight!
Last week, 70% of health centers and 53% of Health Center Program look-alikes submitted data through the weekly COVID-19 survey. Let’s beat that this week! The survey you received on Friday, November 13, is due by 11:59 p.m. your local time today.
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FAQs
We continually update our COVID-19 FAQs webpage. Other resources:
Substance Use Disorder & Mental Health
The Collaborative Care Model: A Proven Approach for Integrating Physical and Behavioral Health Care
Collaborative care programs are a proven approach to integration in which primary care providers, care managers, and psychiatric/behavioral health consultants work together to provide team-based care and monitor patients’ progress. The model provides the platform for a range of targeted behavioral health services such as brief psychosocial treatments; pharmacotherapies for substance use (medication-assisted treatment) and mental disorders; Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT); and patient education.
Wednesday, December 2
3:00-4:00 p.m. ET
Register here
JBS International, a HRSA contractor, will host this webinar.
HIV
New “I am Ready” Campaign
HHS recently launched a new public service campaign to promote Ready, Set, PrEP, which will expand over the next few months. It features stories from real people who use pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP).
Your health center can download and use campaign resources in English and Spanish, including fact sheets, videos, graphics (like the one above), and more.
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New Oral Health and HIV Webpage
The HRSA-funded Target HIV site includes a new page focused on the intersection of HIV and oral health. It includes:
- The Oral Health and Primary Care Integration Technical Assistance Toolkit: A compilation of best practices used by Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (RWHAP) Part C and D recipients to integrate oral health care.
- Webinars and videos.
- Presentations from the 2020 National Ryan White HIV/AIDS Conference Oral Health Institute.
Learn more about RWHAP Oral Health Care Services in a blog entry.
Diabetes
Train the Trainer: Teaching Non-Clinical and Housing Case Management Staff to Understand Diabetes Prevention and Provide Diabetes Prevention Support
The Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH), a HRSA-funded NTTAP, invites health centers serving people experiencing homelessness to join a learning collaborative that begins in January 2021. Participants will explore promising practices for diabetes prevention and self-management outside of the clinic setting. They will also receive training on what non-clinical staff and housing case managers require to support continued diabetes prevention care and management. Topics addressed will include nutrition, exercise, and medication management. Learn more and apply by midnight local time on Thursday, December 31.
Diabetes in Special & Vulnerable Populations: A National Learning Series
To continue the national conversation around diabetes and health centers, 14 NTTAPs are collaborating on a four-part national learning series to engage health centers, Primary Care Associations, and Health Center Controlled Networks. The goal is to increase foundational knowledge of effective strategies to prevent, treat, and manage diabetes among special and vulnerable populations.
Today’s session is about building successful teams during a pandemic. Register for this session or access recordings for past sessions.
Workforce
Several HRSA-funded NTTAPs invite health centers to apply for upcoming learning collaboratives:
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Health Professions Student Training Learning Collaborative
CHCI invites health centers to join a four-month learning collaborative that will provide transformational strategies and coaching support to help health centers evaluate, replicate, and sustain a health profession student training program. Participants will learn to use quality improvement practices and playbook development to achieve these goals. Apply by Friday, December 4.
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Healing Centered Engagement for Patients Experiencing Intimate Partner Violence Learning Collaborative
Futures Without Violence’s National Health Network on Intimate Partner Violence and Human Trafficking offers a learning collaborative to bolster health center staff’s capacity to identify and address intimate partner violence and human trafficking. Topics will include universal education, empowerment and support (the CUES approach), and offering warm referrals to community-based domestic violence programs for safety planning and other well-being support in the time of COVID-19. Apply by 8:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday, December 9.
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Oral Health Workforce Learning Collaborative
This learning collaborative from The National Network for Oral Health Access and the Association for Clinicians of the Underserved’s STAR2 Center will focus on developing an oral health workforce recruitment and retention plan. At the end of the six-month learning collaborative, which commences in January 2021, the project team should be able to produce and share a clear outline for their recruitment and retention plan for oral health team members. Apply by 8:00 p.m. ET on Friday, December 11.
Deadline Extended for Students to Service Loan Repayment Program
HRSA extended the National Health Service Corps’ Students to Service Loan Repayment Program application cycle through 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, December 3. The program awards up to $120,000 in loan repayment to medical, dental, and nursing students in their final year of health professional school. Interested clinicians should check their eligibility and apply. |
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Train the Trainer: Teaching Non-Clinical and Housing Case Management Staff to Understand Diabetes Prevention and Provide Diabetes Prevention Support
See the announcement above.
Oral Health
Call for Applications: Oral Health Workforce Learning Collaborative
See the announcement above.
New Oral Health and HIV Webpage
See the announcement above.
Additional Resources
Social Determinants of Health Screening Learning Collaborative
Farmworker Justice, Health Outreach Partners, Migrant Clinicians Network, MHP Salud, and the National Center for Farmworker Health (all HRSA-funded NTTAPs) present a multidisciplinary learning collaborative designed for staff of community and migrant health centers. The purpose is to increase the number of health centers that screen for social determinants of health (SDOH) affecting migratory and seasonal agricultural workers. Health center staff recommended to participate include clinical supervisors and coordinators, medical assistants, patient navigators, community health workers, and front office workers. This learning collaborative takes place in 2021. Learn more or register here.
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