Rear Admiral Krista Pedley was recognized this week by the American Society of Health Systems Pharmacists with the William A. Zellmer Award for distinguished service to the profession. She also is to be named a Distinguished Alumnae of the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy this fall.

Both awards cite her decade of service as the director of HRSA's Office of Pharmacy Affairs, where she was responsible for oversight of the 340B Drug Pricing Program.

Joining HRSA in 2007, she led a national collaborative exploring ways to integrate pharmacists into primary care teams to help patients better manage multiple chronic conditions.

Learn more about Rear Admiral Pedley.

On Sunday, September 18, we will observe National HIV and Aging Awareness Day. According to the 2020 RWHAP Annual Client-Level Data Report, 47.9 percent of RWHAP clients are aged 50 and older.

Viral suppression rates among clients receiving RWHAP medical care were 92.9 percent for RWHAP clients aged 50 years and older, which is higher than the national RWHAP average of 89.4 percent. Read a recent TargetHIV blog post to learn more about this population and RWHAP services and resources designed to meet their needs.

Join our Office of Intergovernmental and External Affairs’ upcoming maternal health webinar on Tuesday, September 20, noon ET.

The webinar will highlight our Maternal and Child Health Bureau’s funding opportunities and initiatives, share telebehavioral health resources for the perinatal population, and identify local and national resources to support community telehealth goals.

The Provider Relief Fund (PRF) Reporting Portal closes for Reporting Period 3 on Friday, September 30.

Providers who received one or more PRF payment exceeding $10,000, in the aggregate, during the third Payment Received Period must report on their use of funds to comply with PRF Reporting Requirements.

You can find more information and resources on the PRF Reporting webpage.

The National Hansen’s Disease Program (NHDP) in Baton Rouge, Louisiana is the national program tasked with leprosy diagnosis, treatment, and research.

The program hosted a six-hour webinar to educate medical providers about how to diagnose and treat this rare disease that affects 200 Americans each year. The webinar was attended by 117 providers in the United States, Brazil, Congo, India, Canada, and Indonesia.

Training is crucial to assist with early recognition of symptoms to prevent severe sequelae. With early intervention, leprosy patients can be treated and released with minimal complications.

Provider orders for life-sustaining treatment (POLST) are medical orders that outline emergency interventions for a patient. Historically, physicians were the only medical provider authorized to sign POLST forms.

The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) recently launched a new policy area on its Scope of Practice (SOP) policy website that shows which states give advanced practice registered nurses’ the authority to sign POLST forms, which may increase access to these orders for people living in rural and underserved areas.

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

Under the American Rescue Plan Act, the federal government expanded funding to states’ Medicaid home and community-based services (HCBS) programs.

Nearly three-quarters of states plan to allocate these funds specifically toward strengthening youth-serving systems. Strategies include supporting pediatric HCBS providers and caregivers and increasing access to home and community-based behavioral health care.

Read the National Academy for State Health Policy’s (NASHP) policy brief.

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

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) anticipates continued circulation of the virus, with potential for surges over the next several months.

To reduce the risk of severe disease, hospitalization, and death, CDC has a new online tool to help individuals and families find out when to get a booster.

Find nearby locations for vaccines, masks, testing, and treatment.