A letter from Dr. Michael D. Warren, Pediatrician and Associate Administrator for the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) at HRSA

The health and well-being of our children will determine the future of our nation.  As we recognized Child Health Day on Monday, I reflected on the nation’s journey through the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and the barriers children faced to growing and developing physically, socially, and emotionally this past year and a half.

Read Dr. Warren's letter.

September 28 - The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) awarded nearly $1 billion in American Rescue Plan funding to nearly 1,300 Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Health Center Program-funded health centers in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. territories to support major health care construction and renovation projects. These awards will strengthen our primary health care infrastructure and advance health equity and health outcomes in medically underserved communities, including through projects that support COVID-19 testing, treatment, and vaccination. The awards were made through the Health Resources and Services Administration.

Read the release.

Part of the Administration’s Commitment to Improving Maternal Health, Investments Will Support Families, Address Disparities, and Increase the Availability of Doulas

September 18 - The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced nearly $350 million in awards to every state across the nation to support safe pregnancies and healthy babies. Funding will expand home visiting services to families most in need, increase access to doulas, address health disparities in infant deaths, and improve data reporting on maternal mortality. The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) awarded these funds.

Read the release.

Health care providers can apply for $25.5 billion in provider relief funds. The package includes $8.5 billion in American Rescue Plan (ARP) resources for those who serve rural patients covered by Medicare, Medicaid, or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). It also includes $17 billion for Provider Relief Fund (PRF) Phase 4 for a broad range of providers experiencing changes in operating revenues and expenses.

Providers may apply for both programs with a single application. We are hosting technical assistance webinars for applicants. 

Application Due Date: Tuesday, October 26, 11:59 p.m. ET.

Join our HIV/AIDS Bureau and the Administration for Community Living (ACL) on Friday, October 22, 1 p.m. ET for a national HIV and aging webinar.

Presentations will include:

• ACL and its network of programs and services
• Area Agencies on Aging from USAging
• ACL’s Evidence Based Chronic Disease Self-Management Education program
• Healthcare Information and Counseling Programs' support of older adults with HIV who are aging in the RWHAP

Presenters will offer examples of how state and local aging agencies have collaborated successfully with RWHAP providers. The target audience includes RWHAP providers and people with HIV.

Register for the webinar.

Will there be a shortage or surplus of primary care physicians, nurse practitioners, or physician assistants in the coming years?

The new health workforce projections dashboard allows users to view projections of supply and demand for health care workers by occupation, geographic area, and year, including the newest set of primary care projections. Policymakers can use this data to help limit shortages and surpluses. 

In our calculations, we factor in:

• Changing population size, demographics, and location
• New and exiting providers across the occupation
• Differences in levels of access to care

Join our webinar on Thursday, October 14, 2 - 3:30 p.m. ET to learn more about this new tool. 

Register for a three-part HIV primary care webinar series that our Office of Intergovernmental and External Affairs (IEA) Region 2 office is hosting in collaboration with Mount Sinai Institute for Advanced Medicine and the HIV Primary Care and the Prevention Center of Excellence. The series aims to provide medical providers updates to HIV primary care in New York State.

• Part 1, Tuesday, October 12, 12 - 1 p.m. ET 
  Primary Care for Adults Living with HIV will explore the key concepts and best practices when providing primary care services to adults with living with HIV. 
• Part 2, Tuesday, October 19, 12 - 1 p.m. ET
  HIV Prevention Updates will focus on PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) efficacy and use, New York State PrEP guidelines, and evidence and guidelines for PEP (post-exposure prophylaxis).
• Part 3, Tuesday, October 26, 12 -1 p.m. ET
  Antiretroviral Therapy Updates with Protocol for Rapid Initiation will be a deep dive in antiretroviral therapy updates with protocol for rapid initiation. 

All providers are welcome. Free CME, CNE & CPE are only available for New York State medical providers (1 CE per session).​

We continue to accept applications for payment from Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) employing buprenorphine-waivered providers under the Drug Addiction Treatment Act of 2000 (DATA 2000) Waiver Training Payment Program. 

The program gives RHCs the opportunity to apply for a $3,000 payment for each eligible employed provider who attained a DATA 2000 waiver on or after January 1, 2019.  Approximately $1.5 million in program funding remains available for RHCs and will be paid on a first-come, first-served basis until funds are exhausted.

We are collaborating with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to process these applications. For more information, the program provides a video and FAQs.

New results about the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on the health of children under 18 years of age are available from our Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB). MCHB partners with the U.S. Census Bureau on the Household Pulse Survey to gather data about children’s telemedicine appointments, missed and delayed preventive check-ups, and disruptions in childcare.

Results are available from Phase 3.1 of the survey (April-July, 2021). Phase 3.2 data collection continues July-October, 2021.

State Medicaid agencies have operated primary care case management (PCCM) programs for 40 years. In recent years, states leveraged these programs to improve primary care. Compared to other states, most states that operate PCCM programs have a greater portion of their population living in rural areas, where there are often shortages of primary care and other providers. As a result, these states’ efforts to leverage their PCCM programs to improve primary care can produce significant benefits for rural residents. The National Academy for State Health Policy report examines the efforts of five states to leverage their PCCM programs to strengthen primary care.

HRSA’s National Organizations of State and Local Officials Cooperative Agreement provided support for this resource.