What's New

Emergencies Happen: What Health Centers Need to Know Hurricane season began last week, but we know that emergencies can impact health centers at any time. Health centers and Primary Care Associations (PCAs) play an important role before, during, and after emergency events. During emergencies, PCAs gather critical health center information and report the status of service delivery sites to HRSA. For health centers in impacted areas, we ask that you report site-level status to your PCA as soon as you are able. If you have questions about program requirements or scope of project, use the BPHC Contact Form. Visit HRSA’s Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Recovery Resources for Health Centers webpage for information about change in scope for temporary sites, 340B program enrollment under emergency declarations, and FTCA coverage during emergencies.

Expanding COVID-19 Vaccination Office Hours

HRSA made funds available to Health Center Program award recipients and look-alikes that previously received FY 2023 Expanding COVID-19 Vaccination (ECV) funding. Join us for an office hours session for program updates, new requirements, and to ask questions.

Wednesday, June 14
2:00-3:00 p.m. ET
Registration page

Minor Correction in Service Area Competition NOFO Released for January 1 Starts

HRSA recently released the FY 2024 Service Area Competition (SAC) NOFO HRSA-24-066. The document included a minor error on pages 17 and 34. The reference to unduplicated patients on those pages has been corrected to calendar year 2025 (not 2024). Information on the NOFO can be found on Grants.gov and the SAC TA webpage.

Policy Tip: Board Authority “Service utilization patterns" refers to the number of health care services and trends in the types of health care services patients access. A health center’s governing board reviews service utilization patterns to evaluate health center performance and the health center’s ability to meet patient needs. Learn more and find answers to other questions on HRSA’s Health Center Program Compliance FAQs.

Rural Maternity and Obstetrics Management Strategies Program

Approximately $2 million is available to fund up to two health networks to preserve access to and continuity of maternal and obstetrics care in rural communities. HRSA is accepting applications through Friday, July 7. For more information, visit HRSA's website.

Pride Month

The White House Proclamation on Pride Month calls June a time to: …honor a movement that has grown stronger, more vibrant, and more inclusive with every passing year. Pride is a celebration of generations of LGBTQI+ people, who have fought bravely to live openly and authentically. And it is a reminder that we still have generational work to do to ensure that everyone enjoys the full promise of equity, dignity, protection, and freedom. Health centers have long been focused on the needs of LGBTQI+ patients and their families. If your health center is looking to improve your services even more, check out these resources and opportunities:

SAMHSA Resources

• Moving Beyond Change Efforts: Evidence and Action to Support and Affirm LGBTQI+ Youth
  This report (PDF) is a comprehensive research overview of effective and ineffective therapeutic practices related to youth of diverse sexual orientation and gender identity.
  
  
• Adapting Evidence-Based Practices for Under-Resourced Populations
  Adaptations involve tailoring care, programs, and services to the cultural, social, gender, and demographic contexts of the people served to yield positive outcomes. Visit SAMHSA’s website to download.

Upcoming Webinars

Visit the registration pages for more details about these webinars. The latter two are presented by the National LGBTQIA+ Health Education Center.

• HRSA Resources Town Hall: LGBTQI+ Health Workforce Retention and Resiliency
  Speakers will discuss HRSA-supported efforts to increase recruitment, retention, and resiliency within the LGBTQI+ health workforce.
  
  Tuesday, June 13
  3:00-4:30 p.m. ET
  Registration page
  
  

• Gender-Affirming Care for Transgender and Gender Diverse People Experiencing Homelessness
  Speakers will highlight challenges and best practices and share resources.
  
  Tuesday, June 20
  2:00-3:00 p.m. ET
  Registration page
  
  
• Health Benefits and Considerations of Sports Participation and Physical Activity for Transgender and Gender Diverse People
  Speakers will discuss the legal, social, and medical barriers to engagement, including accessibility and safety.
  
  Tuesday, June 27
  Noon-1:00 p.m. ET
  Registration page

COVID-19

Health Partner Order Portal Update

If you order COVID-19-related products through HRSA’s COVID-19 Response Programs, enhancements will be implemented to the Health Partner Order Portal (HPoP) on Tuesday, June 20, and will impact you. See messages in the Health Center Program Community for more information.

Behavioral Health

Responding to Staff Exposure to Highly Stressful Events and Traumatic Patient Experiences

Our behavioral health and substance use disorder (SUD) TA provides timely information on strategies health center leadership and staff can use to respond to stressful and traumatic events. Visit the BPHC Behavioral Health TA Portal for a short pre-recorded webinar that provides information on critical incident stress debriefing and stress management. You can also request further TA on this topic there.

Pediatric Specialty Loan Repayment Program

Eligible clinicians providing pediatric medical subspecialty, pediatric surgical specialty, or child and adolescent mental and behavioral health care including SUD prevention and treatment services may apply to HRSA’s Pediatric Specialty Loan Repayment Program. Learn more on HRSA’s website.

Workforce

Pediatric Specialty Loan Repayment Program

See the announcement above.

Oral Health

User's Guide for the Implementation of In-House Dental Assistant Training Programs A new publication from the National Network for Oral Health Access (NNOHA) describes strategies for health centers to implement in-house dental assistant training programs. These programs can enhance dental assistant recruitment and retention. Visit NNOHA’s website to download the guide.

Telehealth

Testimonial Video: How Telehealth Helps Patients Access Care

Telehealth can make it easier for patients to find or connect to a health care appointment. Watch this video to see how a HRSA grantee, Cherokee Health Systems, is using telehealth to help patients connect to a health care appointment and how they use resources on Telehealth.HHS.gov.

Additional Resources

Diabetes Prevention for the Whole Family

MHP Salud and Health Outreach Partners invite health center staff to hear key takeaways from their article series, “Diabetes Prevention Across the Lifespan.” Speakers will share how they use Community Health Workers to improve health outcomes, demonstrate opportunities for partnering with other community organizations, and showcase health center success stories.

Thursday, June 8
1:00-2:00 p.m. ET
Registration page

Rural Emergency Preparedness and Response Toolkit The HRSA-funded Rural Health Information Hub’s (RHIhub) toolkit compiles evidence-based and promising models and resources to support organizations implementing emergency planning, response, and recovery efforts in rural communities. Visit the RHIhub website to access the toolkit.

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Training Calendar

Visit our online calendar for details on these and all scheduled events.

Through June 13

Calendar Year 2023 UDS Reporting Changes
Tuesday, June 6
1:00-2:30 p.m. ET
Registration page

Maternal Health Among Hispanic/Latina Women (in Spanish with live interpretation in English)
Tuesday, June 6
1:00-2:30 p.m. ET
Registration page

Medicaid Townhall: Redeterminations, Work Requirements, and Coverage for Undocumented Persons
Hosted by the National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership
Tuesday, June 6
2:00-3:30 p.m. ET
Registration page

Using the Readiness to Train Assessment Tool (RTAT) to Assess Organizational Capacity
Hosted by Community Health Center, Inc. (CHCI)
Tuesday, June 6
3:00-4:00 p.m. ET
Registration page

Healing-centered and Youth Driven Care for Adolescents Exposed to Violence (in English with live interpretation in Spanish and ASL)
Hosted by Health Partners on IPV + Exploitation
Wednesday, June 7
2:00-3:00 p.m. ET
Registration page

Diabetes Prevention for the Whole Family
Hosted by MHP Salud and Health Outreach Partners
Thursday, June 8
1:00-2:00 p.m. ET
Registration page

Telehealth Office Hour: Implementing an RPM Program
Hosted by the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC)
Thursday, June 8
2:00-3:00 p.m. ET
Registration page

Coaching and Mentoring
Hosted by the Association of Clinicians for the Underserved’s STAR² Center
Tuesday, June 13
1:00-2:00 p.m. ET
Registration page

Examining Food Security Within the Farmworker Community
Hosted by Farmworker Justice
Tuesday, June 13
2:00-3:00 p.m. ET
Registration page

HRSA Resources Town Hall: LGBTQI+ Health Workforce Retention and Resiliency
Tuesday, June 13
3:00-4:30 p.m. ET
Registration page

Patient-Centered Medical Home Office Hours: How Has the End of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency Impacted Your Center?
Hosted by the National Committee on Quality Assurance
Tuesday, June 13
2:00-3:00 p.m. ET
Registration page

Upcoming

ECV Office Hours
Wednesday, June 14
2:00-3:00 p.m. ET
Registration page

Community Partnerships as Structural Interventions
Hosted by Health Outreach Partners
Wednesday, June 14
2:00-3:00 p.m. ET
Registration page

Growing the Next Generation of Health Center Executives: Understanding a Health Center Administrative Fellows Program
Hosted by NACHC
Thursday, June 15
Noon-1:00 p.m. ET
Registration page

El Rol de los Promotores de Salud en la Detección Equitativa del Cáncer de Mama (The Role of Community Health Workers in Breast Cancer Screening Equity) (in Spanish with live English transcription)
Hosted by the National Nurse-Led Care Consortium
Thursday, June 15
2:00-3:00 p.m. ET
Registration page

Highlighting Community Partnerships: How South Carolina Agricultural Worker Health Program  Increases Access to Care for Agricultural Workers through Collaboration
Hosted by the National Center for Farmworker Health (NCFH)
Thursday, June 15
2:00-3:00 p.m. ET
Registration page

Climate Change, Air Quality, and Health Equity
Tuesday, June 20
1:00-2:00 p.m. ET
Registration page

Gender-Affirming Care for Transgender and Gender Diverse People Experiencing Homelessness
Hosted by the National LGBTQIA+ Health Education Center
Tuesday, June 20
2:00-3:00 p.m. ET
Registration page

Heat Stress Prevention and Hydration & Electrolyte Balance for Agricultural Workers (in English with live interpretation in Spanish)
Hosted by NCFH
Tuesday, June 20
2:00-3:30 p.m. ET
Registration page

UDS Mapper Advanced Topic: Using the UDS Mapper for Service Area Mapping
Wednesday, June 21
2:00-3:00 p.m. ET
Registration page

Patient Portals and Right of Access: Compliance with the Information Blocking Rule and HIPAA
Hosted by the Health Information Technology, Evaluation, and Quality Center
Thursday, June 22
3:00-4:30 p.m. ET
Registration page

Health Benefits and Considerations of Sports Participation and Physical Activity for Transgender and Gender Diverse People
Hosted by the National LGBTQIA+ Health Education Center
Tuesday, June 27
Noon-1:00 p.m. ET
Registration page

Webinars are hosted by HRSA unless otherwise noted.