Funding supports Biden-Harris Administration’s strategy to increase access to maternal care; address maternal depression; and grow the maternal health workforce

Today, HRSA Administrator Carole Johnson and Maternal and Child Health Bureau Associate Administrator Dr. Michael Warren joined Kody Kinsley, Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services for a roundtable discussion on new HRSA funding to combat maternal mortality and improve maternal health, particularly in underserved communities. HRSA announced more than $4 million in awards to North Carolina to support the White House Blueprint for Addressing the Maternal Health Crisis, a whole-of-government strategy to combat maternal mortality and improve maternal health, particularly in underserved communities. 

The United States’ maternal mortality rate has been among the highest of any developed nation in recent decades. Disparities in mortality are stark — Black women are more than three times as likely as White women to die from pregnancy-related causes. The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to reversing these trends and making the U.S. the best country in the world to have a baby.

Read the release.

To commemorate Hispanic Heritage Month and increase access to HRSA programs and resources, HRSA is proud to announce the launch of the HRSA en Español website, developed by Abriendo Puertas, an agency-wide workgroup with representatives from each Bureau and Office dedicated to enhancing HRSA’s communication with Spanish-speaking populations. This website includes a centralized repository of Spanish-translated, HRSA-produced resources and webinars.  Resources include technical assistance, policy announcements, training materials, toolkits, videos, and other HRSA-authored materials translated into Spanish.  Additional materials and webinars will be added to the website over the coming months.

Para conmemorar el mes de la Herencia Hispana y aumentar el acceso a sus programas y recursos, HRSA se enorgullece en anunciar el lanzamiento del sitio web HRSA en Español, desarrollado por Abriendo Puertas, un grupo de trabajo a nivel de toda la organización con representantes de cada oficina, dedicado a mejorar nuestra comunicación con las comunidades de habla hispana. Este sitio web incluye un repositorio central de recursos y seminarios web traducidos al español y producidos por HRSA. Los recursos incluyen asistencia técnica, anuncios de políticas, materiales de capacitación, kits de herramientas, videos y otros materiales creados por HRSA y traducidos al español. Se agregarán materiales y seminarios web adicionales al sitio web en los próximos meses.

HRSA recognized 17 health centers with the first-ever National Quality Leader (NQL) – Cancer Screening badge for exceptional performance and clinical quality in cancer screenings. These health centers met two or more Healthy People 2030 screening targets for breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer in their 2022 Uniform Data System annual performance report. The badge highlights health centers’ critical role in providing medically underserved, high-need communities with potentially life-saving cancer screenings.

The White House featured the new badge in a fact sheet outlining the latest achievements of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Cancer Moonshot Initiative to end cancer as we know it, which aims to ensure all patients benefit equitably from tools to prevent, detect, and diagnose cancer. 

The NQL – Cancer Screening badge is the latest addition to the annual Community Health Quality Recognition (CHQR) badges, which recognize top-performing health centers in priority clinical areas. HRSA will post the 2023 CHQR badges in the coming months.

HRSA Deputy Administrator Jordan Grossman and HRSA’s Office of Tribal Affairs traveled to Rapid City, South Dakota for the HHS Secretary’s Tribal Advisory Committee September meeting. 

During the three-day meeting, Secretary Becerra signed the HHS Tribal Consultation Policy, and Deputy Administrator Grossman discussed with tribal leaders how HRSA programs support the health workforce, expand behavioral health care, and address maternal health in Indian Country.

He also visited the Pine Ridge Reservation to learn about the Oglala Lakota Tribe's history, health programs, and HHS grants. In-person engagement with Indian Country strengthens relationships and is crucial to increasing HRSA’s impact in tribal communities.  

HRSA awarded a total of $400,000 to eight final winners of our national competition to connect more patients to primary care at health centers and strengthen the link between clinical care and social services.

Washington County Mobile Integrated Healthcare Network received the grand prize award of $150,000 for creating a network of HRSA-funded health centers, local emergency medical service agencies, and social service organizations to care for high-risk and chronically ill patients across Missouri.

Other winning solutions included social services referral software and artificial intelligence-enabled chatbots to increase preventive services and screen patients for social risk factors.

Learn more about the final winners on Challenge.gov.

The National Governors Association (NGA) released a new web-based toolkit which provides actionable resources to states working to address healthcare workforce issues such as:

• Creating a landscape for direct care workforce stakeholders
• Aligning pipeline initiatives with population health needs
• Reviewing regulatory policies that impact entry requirements

The health workforce includes a wide range of professions and occupations that contribute to supporting and maintaining the health of the population. States are involved in many activities that directly influence this workforce, from ensuring pipeline sufficiency and establishing public insurance reimbursement policy to regulating individual professionals and/or the settings they work in. 

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

Join our Office of Women's Health (OWH), the Bureau of Health Workforce, and the Director of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence within the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health for a webinar, Preventing Gender-Based and Intimate Partner Violence.

It will be held Thursday, October 12, 2-3:00 p.m. ET, in observance of Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Register to learn about HRSA and HHS programs that address gender-based and intimate partner violence.

Download HRSA OWH's newly released Implementation Framework for Preventing and Responding to IPV.

Mark your calendars for Monday, October 2 to access the latest 2022 data from the NSCH. This is the largest and most comprehensive national- and state‐level survey on the health and well‐being of children, their families, and their communities.

The survey provides data on a range of factors such as the prevalence and impact of special health care needs, health care quality and access, physical and mental health, and adverse childhood experiences. HRSA’s Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) funds and directs this survey. The survey data can support your research, program and policy development, and evaluation efforts.

Contact MCHB for more information.