HRSA Administrator Congratulates the Office of Information Technology (OIT)

photo of the hrsa team, winners of the igniting innovation award

HRSA Administrator George Sigounas, MS, Ph.D. congratulates the OIT team for winning the American Council for Technology – Industry Advisory Council (ACT-IAC) Innovation Award for 2018! HRSA is recognized for implementing Business Intelligence capabilities in the Electronic Handbooks, the grants and program management system used by HRSA and its grantees.

View the video about HRSA's innovation.

HRSA Awards $2.8 Million in Grants to Community-Based Organizations to Help Americans Get HIV/AIDS Care and Support Services

A doctor seeing a patient to discuss his health

May 16: The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) announced today that it awarded approximately $2.8 million in Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program Part C Early Intervention Services (EIS) grants to 10 new geographic service areas to increase access to care and treatment for people living with HIV. Six of the grantees are located in the southern United States, where there is the greatest burden of infection, illness, and deaths from HIV.

The Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program Part C EIS Program supports a comprehensive system of HIV primary medical care and essential support services in an outpatient setting for underserved people living with HIV. The program provides grant funding to community health centers, health departments, hospitals, community-based organizations, and other organizations eligible to receive funding in 49 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. In addition to comprehensive primary HIV medical care, the grant recipients may also provide substance use disorder, mental health, and oral health services to people living with HIV.

“The Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program Part C EIS plays a critical role in the United States’ public health response to HIV,” said HRSA Administrator George Sigounas, MS, Ph.D. “These grants will ensure that the most vulnerable Americans living with HIV/AIDS will have access to the necessary care and treatment needed to improve their health outcomes.”

Read the news release.

Capital Assistance for Hurricane Recovery and Relief Efforts (CARE) Funding Available

On Monday, May 14, HRSA announced the new CARE funding opportunity (HRSA-18-114) for Health Center Program award recipients operating service delivery sites in counties that received a major disaster declaration in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Texas, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

This funding opportunity provides one-time support for minor alteration/renovation (A/R) and/or equipment costs to assist impacted health centers with their disaster response and recovery activities related to Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and/or Maria.

Learn more about HRSA's disaster preparedness and recovery resources.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month

A well-trained behavioral health workforce is key to addressing the current opioid crisis, which has been declared a public health emergency.

HRSA’s Bureau of Health Workforce manages several programs to train nursing and behavioral health providers to address the nation’s mental health needs.

Learn about BHWs programs in Behavioral Health, Nursing, and Public Health.

National Women’s Health Week

80% of women make family health care decisions but many go without coverage themselves

National Women’s Health Week kicked off on Mother’s Day, May 13, and will be celebrated through May 19.

This week serves as a reminder for women to make their health a priority and build positive health habits for life.

See how HRSA delivers critical health services for women in this infographic.

CMS Announces Agency’s First Rural Health Strategy

Thumbnail image of the CMS Rural Health Strategy, showing a street sign of Main Street and Washington Street

Today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the agency’s first Rural Health Strategy intended to provide a proactive approach on healthcare issues to ensure that the nearly one in five individuals who live in rural America have access to high quality, affordable healthcare.

“HRSA is excited to see CMS spell out a strategy to better serve rural populations that was informed by rural stakeholders who have a unique lens on the issues in their communities,” said HRSA Administrator George Sigounas, MS, Ph.D. “This builds on our long-standing collaboration with CMS and will highlight key issues for rural safety net providers like rural hospitals and community health centers for CMS and HHS.”

Learn more about the CMS Rural Health Strategy, or read the fact sheet.

Shortage Designation Modernization Project Webinar

image of a map of the us with a stethoscope laying on top of it

Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) are designations that indicate health care provider shortages in primary care, dental health, or mental health.

The national update of auto-HPSA is tentatively planned for April 2019. This webinar offers an opportunity for health center staff to learn more about the HPSA designation modernization project.

Wednesday, May 23 1:00-2:30 p.m. ET
Join the webinar the day of the sessionCall-in: 888-397-5339
Passcode: 947027

Topics include:

A review of the scoring criteria used for Auto-HPSAs
Important milestones for the modernization project
The data sources that will be used for Auto-HPSA impact analyses

You can also join the project’s email list to receive monthly updates.

Telemedicine 101 for Tribal Organizations

Laptop depicting different aspects of medicine

This webinar will provide basic information on the implementation and practice of telemedicine for tribal organizations. HRSA’s Region 9, FORHP’s Office for the Advancement of Telehealth, and the HRSA-funded Southwest Telehealth Resource Center have identified a need to develop a webinar that will provide tribal organizations with an opportunity to learn about telemedicine, the benefits to tribal healthcare practitioners and patients, and resources available to those who want to get involved.

Join the webinar on Tuesday May 22 at 2:00 p.m. ET