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November 16, 2023
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You make gratitude easy
November is National Gratitude Month, and we are grateful each day for your hard work and dedication to BPHC and the Health Center Program!
Gratitude is more than just saying thank you, it is also about fostering positivity. Even on the most challenging days, you always bring your focus, creativity, and passion to improve the health of medically underserved communities across the country. Your dedication makes a difference to your BPHC colleagues, and to health center staff and patients. YOU make BPHC the BEST place to work!
We are grateful that 2023 offered us a chance to gather in person for the first time in years. Whether at one of our in-person all-hands meetings, or at our first annual BPHC-wide picnic — it has been meaningful getting to reconnect with colleagues and meet many of you in person for the first time.
We wish you, your friends, and families a very happy Thanksgiving! Thank you again for all that you do.
Sincerely,
Jim, Onyeka, and Tonya
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What's New
NEXT WEEK: Newsletter deadline change for Thanksgiving
We moved up the newsletter deadline because of Thanksgiving. Also, we will not publish an issue of the Insider next week. Content for the November 30 issue must be approved by COB Wednesday, November 22. We’ll hold late submissions for the subsequent issues.
Questions? Email the Digest or Insider mailbox.
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AFTER THANKSGIVING: Today with Macrae
Join Jim and Dr. Laura Cheever from the HIV/AIDS Bureau to recognize World AIDS Day, get updates, and more.
Tuesday, November 28
2:00-3:00 p.m. ET
Join the day of the session
Join by phone: 833-568-8864
Webinar ID: 160 898 8161
You can find recordings and presentation slides from 2018 to the present in the webcast archives.
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BPHC staff tour Unity Health Center
DWM has relaunched the Health Center Tour Program! Thirteen BPHC staff participated in the first tour on Tuesday, November 7, at Unity Health Care — Upper Cardozo Health Center in Washington, D.C. The tour was a big success!
Did you know that this health center was one of 45 award recipients recently awarded HRSA's Advanced Nursing Education-Nurse Practitioner Residency and Fellowship Program funding?
Participants toured the state-of-the-art facility and met providers and patients in medical, dental, and other specialty service areas. They viewed artwork representing the diverse patient population and community. Staff also had a chance to connect their individual positions and roles to the Health Center Program, especially during the Q&A.
“My job involves a lot of number crunching and communications planning about the Uniform Data System (UDS) and there are times when I wonder about my work’s impact on individual health centers,” says Samantha Cinnick, in OQI’s Data and Evaluation (D&E) Division. “This tour allowed me to see how D&E supports health center quality improvement efforts. My hope is that everyone in my division will have the chance to connect their work with UDS data and research to the day-to-day work of the health centers. I can’t wait to recommend this experience to other colleagues.”
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 Dr. Ryan Buchholz is a practicing pediatrician and internal medicine physician at Unity. He also serves as Deputy Chief Medical Officer and Chief Quality Officer. He escorted the tour, led an engaging Q&A, and shared insights on his work, Unity’s history, and other topics:
- Its vaccination rates being among the highest in the District
- Efforts to promote patient continuum of care across specialties
- Quality improvement metrics including CMS clinical quality measures collected in HRSA’s UDS (e.g., cancer screening, hypertension control, and childhood immunization status)
- Efforts to combat HIV and behavioral health stigma
Dr. Buchholz gave a shoutout to Dr. Luis Padilla, Associate Administrator of the Bureau of Health Workforce. Dr. Padilla is a former member of Unity’s executive leadership team and is the person who hired and mentored Dr. Buchholz.
The health center tours will continue quarterly. The aim of the program is for participants to see the connection to the BPHC mission. The next tour is tentatively planned for January 2024. If you are interested in participating, let your supervisor know!
 From left:
Wendy Whitaker, Director for DWM/ODE (served as Tour SME); Sherry Vorabhanda, OHCIO/Strategic Services Public Health Analyst; Kanika Watson, OSBO/Communications Deputy Director; Onyekachukwu Anaedozie, BPHC Deputy Associate Administrator; Amanda Reyes, OPPD/Policy Team Lead; Yididya Amha, OPPD/Expansion Public Health Analyst; Alison Wilson, OHCPM/HCE Public Health Analyst; LCDR Tonya Twyman, OHCIO/Clinical Performance Improvement U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps Officer/Public Health Analyst; Samantha Ebersold, OAA/IOAA Public Health Analyst; Samantha Cinnick, OQI/Data & Evaluation Public Health Analyst; Joy Hart, OSBO/Customer Experience Public Health Analyst; Fiona Mesfun, Unity Health Care Policy Manager; Candyce Jackson, DWM/BAR Management Analyst; Naphatarra Pankey, DWM/ODE Management Analyst (served as Tour Program Coordinator); Yardia Ruffin, OQI/OD Management Analyst; CDR Anthony Benjamin, OHCPM/HCE U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps Officer/Public Health Analyst; Dr. Ryan Buchholz, Unity Health Care - Upper Cardozo Health Center Deputy Chief Medical Officer and Chief Quality Officer
BPHC Data Community of Practice open for 2024-2025 committee members
BPHC staff now have an opportunity to join the Data Community of Practice (CoP) and serve on one of its committees (program, data literacy, communications) for the next term. If interested, submit a self-nomination form by Sunday, December 31.
The BPHC Data CoP brings together data users from all levels — from novice to expert. Prospective members are invited to join the November BPHC Data CoP meeting:
Tuesday, November 28
Noon-1:00 p.m. ET
Join the day of the session
Contact bphcdatacop@hrsa.gov if you would like to receive a recurring calendar invitation to the monthly meetings.
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Reminder: World AIDS Day photos needed
Encourage health centers to use the BPHC Contact Form (General/Other HRSA > Other Topics) to submit World AIDS Day photos with a short description and names and titles of people. Deadline is Wednesday, December 6, with a completed Photo Release Form (PDF) for each person in the photo.
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Reminder: Federal Tort Claims Act assessment removed from Operational Site Visits
We recently discontinued the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) assessment in the FTCA Deeming Requirements section of the Site Visit Protocol (SVP). Health centers no longer need to provide documentation for that section of the SVP for their OSVs.
Until the FTCA assessment questions are removed from the HRSA Electronic Handbooks (EHBs) STAR system, we instructed MSCG consultants to mark all responses within the FTCA Deeming Requirements section of the OSV STAR report as "yes" and enter standardized text into the comment fields. We already provided the standardized text, so you should not need to do anything else.
All FTCA-deemed health centers must comply with FTCA program requirements. We will continue to assess their compliance through the FTCA deeming and re-deeming processes, and FTCA-specific site visits. Health centers can find more information and resources about FTCA on our website.
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Reminder: BPHC-wide Technical Assistance Coordination Council
As mentioned in last week’s BPHC All-Hands, the bureau launched the Technical Assistance Coordination Council (TACC) comprising staff and leadership representing every office. The Council develops high-level strategic guidance for BPHC staff on how we and our strategic partners coordinate and deliver technical assistance (TA). Its motto is “Defining how to harness and deliver the best TA resources in a coordinated way.” Read the TACC Charter.
Refer to the newest guidance from the Council as you consider developing TA or connecting your cohorts to TA on specific topics:
As a reminder, the Health Center Resource Clearinghouse is the repository for TA resources developed for health centers by HRSA-funded TA partners.
Interested in learning more? Feel free to reach out to your Office representatives on the TACC or email the TACC mailbox.
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November is Native American Heritage Month
With Indigenous People’s Day celebrated in October and Thanksgiving coming up soon, now is a great time to learn more about Native American heritage and to reflect on the deep history and current events that shape the Native American experience.
Ways to learn more and take action this month:
- Consider purchasing a gift for your holiday host from a Native American-owned business.
- Visit the National Museum of the American Indian (free, no tickets required).
- Read a book by a Native American author: Louise Erdrich, Joy Harjo, Tommy Orange, Sherman Alexie, and more!
- Attend HHS’s annual celebration of Native American Heritage Month in the Great Hall of the Hubert H. Humphrey Building or on HHS livestream on Monday, November 27. This year’s celebration will feature the dedication of HHS’s Hall of Tribal Nations, where flags from members of the HHS Secretary’s Tribal Advisory Committee will hang permanently in the Great Hall, highlighting HHS’s dedication to honoring its Nation-to-Nation relationship with Tribes.
- Read President Biden's 2023 proclamation on National Native American Heritage Month and acknowledging Friday, November 24, as Native American Heritage Day.
Getting to know Dennis Shats
Editor’s note: Interested in participating in a “Getting to know” column for the first or second time? Take a look at the revised questions to see what’s involved and check out our Getting to Know BPHC Staff page.
Meet Dennis Shats, Systems Support and Innovation Training Lead, IT Systems, OSBO:
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What non-work topic would you consider yourself an expert (or almost-expert) on? Wilderness survival and emergency preparedness. I’ve attended courses and studied quite a bit of material on this topic.
What is your proudest accomplishment? My proudest accomplishments are my children. Sharing my knowledge and experience with them is profound. I also love seeing them grow and learn.
When I was a kid, I wanted to be: A diver, until I learned that there are sharks in the oceans.
Where did you grow up and what do you like best about your hometown? I'm the child of a military family, so I moved a lot. I was born in Azerbaijan, which was a part of the USSR in the 1980s, and then kept moving around. The town I associate the most with my adolescence was a small town in the center of Russia called Novovoronezh. Most of its population worked at the nuclear power plant nearby, and my father worked there as well. I made many friends there who I remember to this day.
What is your favorite kind of pie? Chicken pot pie, and the bigger the better.
Learn more about Dennis. Email BPHC Insider to submit your name for a future Getting to Know.
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CFC cause of the week: Community improvement
CFC charities bring community members together and highlight their culture and diversity through local theaters, recreational parks, farmers’ markets, seasonal events, and community gardens.
Charities help communities in other ways as well by connecting members with accessible resources for legal and financial aid, providing loans and grants to entrepreneurs looking to start small businesses, and expanding access to broadband internet services. These investments lead to long-term improvements. Harnessing the power of community through CFC charities can enhance communications and alleviate racial and gender biases and inequalities.
Learn more:
Questions? Contact BPHC CFC Coordinators Jasmine Hawkins and Zaneta Clarke or your CFC keyworker listed in the September 28 Insider.
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CFC Halloween contest winners
The votes are in and the spooktacular winners of the BPHC CFC Costume Contest have been chosen! As announced by Jasmine Hawkins in an email to staff (PDF) the winners are:
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Scariest Costume: Rob Gilliam, OQI, CFC cause: Autism and animal welfare/shelter animals
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Best Costume Representing a CFC Cause: Gayle Tuckett, OHCPM, CFC Cause: Food and nutrition
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Most Original Costume: Jasmine Hawkins, OSBO, CFC cause: Medical research/disease eradication
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Best Group/Family Costume [TIE]: Rachel Holmes, OHCIO, CFC cause: Women's health and girl empowerment and Michelle Lederman, OPPD, CFC cause: Environmental protection and animal welfare/pets (she also won Best Pet Costume)
CFC on Giving Tuesday: Charity Fair and Chili Cook-off
You’ve heard about Black Friday and Cyber Monday... get ready for Giving Tuesday! In 2012, the United Nations and NYC-based charities established Giving Tuesday as a charitable response to Black Friday and Cyber Monday. For many charities, it's the day where they receive the largest influx of donations. This year, Giving Tuesday is on November 28. Help make this the biggest pledge day — donate to the CFC!
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Join your colleagues on Giving Tuesday for the CFC Charity Fair and Chili Cook-off at 5600 Fishers Lane! Bring your best chili to compete with AHRQ, IHS, and SAMHSA for the coveted Golden Spoon Award. Learn how you can make a difference by visiting with the CFC charities in the Atrium between noon and 1:00 p.m. ET.
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HRSA & HHS Happenings
TODAY: Celebrate rural health!
Join HRSA's National Rural Health Day celebration today! Attend a meet-and-greet in Pavilion C at 5600 Fishers Lane, a poster session in the Atrium, and more. View the full schedule of events on HRSA’s National Rural Health Day Agenda page.
9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. ET
(HRSA’s keynote event: Federal Rural Partners webinar from 11:00 a.m.-noon ET)
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World AIDS Day event
Join HRSA’s 2023 World AIDS Day commemoration event in the 5600 Fishers Lane 5th Floor Atrium or virtually. This year’s theme is “World AIDS Day 35: Remember and Commit.”
The event will feature remarks from HRSA leadership, several new announcements, and an engaging panel discussion with HIV community leaders and people with lived experience.
Tuesday, November 28
11 a.m.-noon ET
Registration page
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Join Black Leaders Advancing Quality, Unity, and Equity
Are you curious about or interested in joining an Employee Resource Group that can offer a platform for networking, mentorship, and collaboration with individuals with diverse talents, fostering an environment where relationships go beyond the workplace?
BLAQUE: Black Leaders Advancing Quality, Unity, and Equity is hosting an Interest and Informational meeting where you can come listen and ask any questions because together, we can create a workplace that thrives on the principles of quality, unity, and equity. Your participation is not just an investment in your own growth but a commitment to building a stronger, more inclusive organization.
Wednesday, November 29
2:00-3:00 p.m. ET
5W-11
Registration page
Day of Remembrance
Join HRSA Pride to honor transgender lives lost and celebrate the resilience of the community on Transgender Day of Remembrance observance.
Thursday, November 30
1:00-2:00 p.m. ET
Join the day of the session
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Staffing Update
Departure
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Michael Fenslau, Administrative Officer, departing from DWM and transferring to HHS Administration for Children and Families, effective Saturday, November 18.
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DWM Important Updates and Reminders
Take advantage of 2023 Federal Benefits Open Season
The Federal Benefits Open Season began Monday and runs through Monday, December 11! Register for the Virtual Benefits Fair including live chats on certain days to learn about your dental and vision insurance benefits.
Read the HR Blog for details about the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Plan, the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program (FEDVIP), and the Federal Flexible Spending Account Program (FSAFEDS).
If you are satisfied with your current FEHB and FEDVIP plans, you do not need to take action. Your enrollment will continue automatically. NOTE: A few plans have terminated their participation in the FEHB program, reduced their service area, or dropped an option for 2024. Review the Significant FEHB Plan Changes for 2024 (PDF) to see a complete list.
If you already have an FSAFEDS account, it will not continue automatically in 2024. You MUST reenroll.
FEDVIP and FSAFEDS are effective on Monday, January 1, 2024; FEHB plans are effective on Sunday, January 14, 2024.
Resources:
Travelers: Update banking information
BPHC Travel has learned that travelers are experiencing delays in direct deposit updates. If you will be traveling in the second quarter of FY 2024 or if your personal banking information has changed recently, submit a new direct deposit form for travel reimbursement. Incorrect banking information will result in the delay of your voucher reimbursement. Contact BPHCTravel@hrsa.gov to request information on this process.
Brush up on the Thrift Savings Plan
Register for a session to learn about your Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) benefits, including an introduction to TSP, contributions, investment funds and more.
The 2024 contribution limit to the Thrift Savings Plan is increasing to $23,000 per year, an increase of 2.2% over the 2023 annual limit, which was $22,500. The catch-up contribution limit for 2024 will remain the same at $7,500. This allows federal employees aged 50 and up to make this extra contribution to the TSP each year (for a total of $30,500) to further boost their retirement savings. For more information, read the FedSmith article.
Do you know any HHS Green Champions?
The HHS sustainability program, Go Green Get Healthy HHS has launched its annual awards initiative to recognize those who go above and beyond their day-to-day responsibilities to implement changes that minimize environmental impact, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and improve the health of our nation.
As an HHS employee, you are welcome to nominate yourself, a fellow colleague, small group, project, or program for this prestigious award.
Download the application and instructions if you would like to nominate a green champion, and email the BPHC Recognition mailbox with any questions. Nominations will be accepted through the BPHC Award Workflow until Tuesday, January 9, 2024.
Make your hoteling and conference room reservations
Check out the HRSA WorkSpace Manager — a new reservation system that streamlines the process for reserving conference rooms and hoteling spaces at the 5600 Fishers Lane building. (Reservations for 5th floor conference rooms will still use the old SharePoint reservation system.)
Review the FAQs (PDF) and the “How to” guides and videos on the HRSA WorkSpace Manager site.
Email HRSAReservations@hrsa.gov or call 301-443-0201 if you have any questions.
Training & Staff Development
DEADLINE TOMORROW: Sign up for “Transform Data into Insight with Power BI”
As part of the BPHC Data Literacy Program aimed at helping BPHC become more data-informed, the bureau plans to offer live, virtual data literacy classes to strengthen our culture of continual learning and growth around data. The first course topic will be Transform Data into Insight with Power BI. The course will meet for 12 weeks, starting the week of December 4.
To ensure BPHC selects the most suitable participants for this training, the instructors request that interested staff fill out the application form by tomorrow, November 17. See the course brochure (PDF) for details.
Reminder: Mandatory trainings due soon!
All employees have been automatically registered for mandatory annual Emergency Preparedness, Records Management, and Ethics trainings. Log in to the Learning Management System to complete these trainings as soon as possible!
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Records Management: Due by Friday, December 29.
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Ethics: Due by Sunday, December 31.
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Emergency Preparedness: Due by Sunday, December 31
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Apply now: Team Lead Development Program
Calling all non-supervisory team leads: The Team Lead Development Program is accepting applications. Apply no later than Monday, December 11, at 11:59 p.m. ET.
Be prepared: Register for “Active Shooter/Hostile Event Awareness”
Register for a training hosted by HHS Physical Security, Emergency Management, and Safety. This course provides all the information necessary to properly identify and report individuals who may be on the pathway to committing a violent act. You will learn how to effectively prepare for, safely respond to, and recover from active shooter and other types of hostile events.
This class is offered quarterly and is open to all HHS full-time employees, contractors, Commissioned Corps personnel, fellows, volunteers, and interns. Attendance is highly encouraged!
Tuesday, November 28
10:00-11:30 a.m. ET
Registration page
Policy Tip
Did you know?
If a health center contracts with an answering service that does not provide clinical advice or medical triage, the service is not recorded on Form 5A: Services Provided (PDF) as after-hours coverage. The answering service is not an actual health care service. Its only role is to connect patients to a medical professional who can exercise their professional judgement on the need for emergency medical care.
To learn more about this topic, and to find answers to other questions, check out the Health Center Program Compliance FAQs.
Systems Corner
BHCMIS training
Find information on IT Systems training materials.
Health & Wellness
Upcoming wellness webinars
FedStrive and WorkLife4You sponsor the webinars below. WorkLife4You is a 24/7 personalized assistance program that provides guidance on health and wellness. To access resources and register for other WorkLIfe4You webinars, log in with username hrsa and password hrsa. You may also call 800-222-0364; TTY: 888-262-7848.
For additional resources, see HRSA’s WorkLife Programs page.
TODAY: Stress Management
Explore the causes of stress, how to recognize stress signals, and strategies for managing stress.
1:00-2:00 p.m. ET
Registration page
Holiday Budgeting
Learn how to rein in spending at the holidays and re-examine your expectations of the holidays to stay out of debt.
Tuesday, November 21
Noon-1:00 p.m. ET
Registration page
Confident Parenting: Managing Fear & Anxiety in Children
In this webinar we will discuss important tactics to help children of all age groups deal with anxiety and fear and how our own fears and anxieties must be handled to provide proper support to children.
Wednesday, November 22
1:00-2:00 p.m. ET
Registration page
In Case You Missed It
A Round-Up of Previously Announced Items
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