November 22: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), announced a new $350 million initiative for HRSA-supported health centers to increase COVID-19 vaccines in their communities, with a specific focus on underserved populations. This funding will support health centers administering updated COVID-19 vaccines through mobile, drive-up, walk-up, or community-based vaccination events, including working with community-based organizations, and other efforts to increase the administration of COVID-19 vaccines.
The Expanding COVID-19 Vaccination initiative will provide resources directly to health centers throughout the country to increase COVID-19 vaccinations this winter by addressing the unique access barriers experienced by the underserved populations that health centers serve. HRSA anticipates these efforts will also increase flu and childhood vaccinations through combined vaccination events. All HRSA-funded health centers, as well as health center look-alikes that received American Rescue Plan funding, will be eligible.
Read the full press release HERE.
Source: HRSA
November 15: Over the past year, HRSA awarded approximately $2.3 billion dollars to cities, counties, states, and local community-based organizations to provide life-saving care, treatment, and support services for over half a million people with HIV in the United States. In fiscal year 2022, the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program invested in new efforts involving pre-conception counseling for people with HIV, trauma-informed care, aging with HIV, housing for people with HIV who have been recently incarcerated, and supporting gender-affirming care for young LGBTQ people with HIV. To further promote the adoption of HIV care and treatment interventions to reduce HIV health disparities, the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program also disseminated innovative and emerging strategies for grant recipients to address key needs of their patients, including housing, gender-affirming care, and substance use treatment.
Read the full press release HERE.
Source: HRSA
December 1: HRSA HIV/AIDS Bureau commemorated World AIDS Day. HRSA Administrator Carole Johnson released the following statement: “Today, on World AIDS Day, we remember those we have lost and stand with the community in the fight for the health and well-being of those with HIV in the United States and around the world. At HRSA, we are investing here at home and internationally to end the HIV epidemic once and for all. There is much work to do, but we know that working together with community partners our shared goal is within reach.”
Laura Cheever, MD, ScM, Associate Administrator, HRSA’s HIV/AIDS Bureau, also released a message:
“Today, HRSA commemorates World AIDS Day. This day of solidarity honors all people who have been touched by HIV, including those who lost their lives to AIDS-related illnesses and the millions of people with HIV in the United States and around the world.
For more than 30 years, the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program has helped people with HIV get medical care and life-saving treatment through our partnerships with states, cities, community-based organizations, clinics, and people with lived experience. Our new 2021 data show the program served 576,000 people with HIV, an increase of nearly 15,000 clients from the previous year. These efforts have had an extraordinary impact: our most recent data showed that nearly 90 percent of Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program clients were virally suppressed – meaning they can’t sexually transmit HIV. This is a huge public health achievement that few imagined was possible just a few decades ago.
The Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program also plays a leading role in the Ending the HIV Epidemic in the U.S. initiative, which focuses on reducing new HIV infections in the United States by at least 90 percent in 2030. As part of the initiative, we are exploring new ways to get people with HIV diagnosed and connected to care. Our network of nationwide Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program clinics and health centers has been essential to our country’s response to other public health challenges as well—from the COVID-19 pandemic to the mpox outbreak—both of which can have severe implications for people with HIV.
None of this progress would be possible without your tireless work and your close partnerships with the communities you serve. Thank you for your continued commitment to helping people with HIV get the care and treatment they need and to ending the HIV epidemic in the U.S. once and for all.”
HRSA released a new video to provide thanks to Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program recipients across the country for their work to help people with HIV access care and treatment services, get and stay on HIV medication, and reach viral suppression. Watch the video.
Source: HRSA
The Bureau of Primary Health Care will host a Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) Health Equity Technical Assistance Symposium from 11:00 am-4:30 pm ET on Wednesday, March 29, 2023, and Thursday, March 30, 2023. Participants will have the opportunity to hear about and discuss best practices and lessons learned from peers and experts in the fields of health equity, quality improvement, and accreditation and recognition.
Visit the registration page.
If you have questions, you can use the BPHC Contact Form. In the Health Center Program section, select “Accreditation and Patient Centered Medical Home Recognition (APCMH) – H80.”
Health centers are invited to share data-driven quality improvement projects that improved health outcomes and/or reduced health disparities. Each presenter will have 30 minutes: 15 for their presentation and the remaining time to host a discussion of the presentation.
Those interested in presenting should complete the presentation information form to submit their abstract, which includes details on the structure for proposed presentations. Abstracts must be received by Wednesday, February 1, 2023
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