HRSA September in Brief

HRSA Administrator Carole Johnson joined President Biden in the Oval Office, along with Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, Congresswoman Robin Kelly of Illinois, advocates, and individuals who have received donated organs, as he signed the Securing the U.S. Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network Act. This legislation adopts the proposals HRSA included in the President's 2024 Budget to give us critical tools to implement HRSA's Organ Procurement and Transplantation Modernization Initiative.

"HRSA is grateful for the President's leadership in calling for these reforms in his budget and commends the Congressional leaders who responded by working in a bipartisan, bicameral way to advance this critical legislation to improve health outcomes for the more than 100,000 people on the organ transplant waiting list," said Administrator Johnson.

HRSA Administrator Johnson joined First Lady Dr. Jill Biden and Senator Tammy Baldwin for a conversation at the Foundation for Black Women's Wellness in Madison, Wisconsin, to discuss the steps the Biden-Harris Administration has taken to expand access to cancer prevention screening and care in historically underserved communities.

HRSA also announced, in partnership with the White House, a new National Quality Leader Cancer Screening Badge for community health centers that meet two or more of the Healthy People 2030 breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer screening targets. The badge, which will be awarded annually, was created in support of the Cancer Moonshot's call to action on cancer screening and highlights the critical role health centers play in providing historically medically underserved, high-need communities with access to lifesaving cancer screenings.

HRSA awarded nearly $90 million to expand access to maternal health care, support the needs of parents and families, grow the maternal health workforce, and expand screening and treatment for maternal depression and other mental health and substance use disorders.

• Expanding and diversifying the maternal health workforce: HRSA is investing $12.5 million to expand the maternal health workforce. This includes $8 million to train and deploy more nurse midwives by supporting nurse midwifery programs at 10 universities, and $4.5 million to establish the Institute for Home Visiting Workforce Development and the Jackie Walorski Center for Evidence-Based Case Management to support state Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting programs as they recruit and train the workforce.
• Increasing access to maternal health services: HRSA is investing over $34 million to increase access to maternity care in underserved and rural communities. This includes more than $24 million to establish maternal health task forces to implement strategies to improve maternal health service delivery, nearly $2 million to support rural communities, and more than $8 million to improve pregnancy and postpartum care by expanding access to health and social services.
• Supporting parents and families: HRSA is investing nearly $32 million to provide support to patients and families. This includes nearly $9 million to support 12 states in training OB/GYNs, midwives, and other maternal health providers in treating behavioral health; $11 million to fund new programs through the Healthy Start Initiative to provide direct services to pregnant and postpartum mothers; nearly $6 million to ensure that new mothers and their families are supported during the Medicaid redetermination process associated with the end of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency; and more than $5.5 million to support 28 states and jurisdictions to implement "patient safety bundles" in birthing facilities through the Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health (AIM) program.
• Investing in maternal health research: HRSA is investing nearly $10 million to establish a new research network that will support minority serving institutions of higher learning to study the disparities in maternal health outcomes and identify effective methods and strategies for addressing them.

"At the Health Resources and Services Administration, we are laser-focused on reversing this crisis by expanding access to maternal care, growing the maternal care workforce, supporting moms experiencing maternal depression, and addressing the important social supports that are vital to safe pregnancies" said HRSA Administrator Johnson. "We know it will take a sustained approach to reduce and eliminate maternal health disparities, and we are committed to this work."

HRSA Administrator Johnson joined Senator Debbie Stabenow in Michigan to announce several new awards focused on the mental health of young people, including awards to train more mental health providers, embed mental health in more school-based health centers, and help pediatricians address their patients' mental health needs. Awards include:

• Expanding access to mental health care in schools: HRSA is awarding $25 million to 77 HRSA-funded health centers to create new and expand existing school-based health centers, which for the first-time includes support for health centers to provide mental health services in these schools.
• Integrating mental health care into pediatric practices: HRSA is awarding more than $19 million to 25 states and territories to train pediatricians in delivering mental health care and provide real-time teleconsultation for pediatricians to get expert support from psychiatrists and other mental health providers to help them care for their patients' mental health needs.
• Growing the mental health care workforce: HRSA is awarding $11 million to 23 organizations to train more behavioral health providers focused on serving children, adolescents, and young adults in underserved and rural areas. Funding will also help increase the number of clinical supervisors to ensure new trainees gain experience and mentorship in how best to support young people's mental health.

HRSA Administrator Johnson and Congressman Donald Norcross visited the Rowan-Virtua Medical School in Stratford, New Jersey, to announce a new $8 million HRSA investment in residency training across the country to train new primary care doctors to better serve individuals with limited English proficiency and individuals with disabilities, including physical and intellectual/developmental disabilities. Primary care medical students, physician assistant students, and medical residents will take part in the training.

HRSA Administrator Johnson and Associate Administrator Dr. Michael Warren traveled to North Carolina to host a roundtable with North Carolina Secretary of Health Kody Kinsley to announce more than $4 million in HRSA awards focused on addressing maternal health disparities. During the visit, attendees heard directly from moms, advocates, community organizations, state leaders, clinicians, and policymakers about what more can be done to save lives in North Carolina and around the country.

HRSA Deputy Administrator Jordan Grossman and IEA's Office of Tribal Affairs traveled to the Pine Ridge Reservation of the Oglala Lakota Tribe in South Dakota for the HHS Secretary's Tribal Advisory Committee meeting. They met with tribal leaders and toured tribal sites to discuss HRSA programs that support primary care, behavioral health, and the health workforce in Indian Country.

More than 3,000 people registered for HRSA's National Telehealth Conference on September 12. HRSA Administrator Johnson, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Deputy Administrator Meena Seshamani, and a broad range of national, regional, and local telehealth experts covered important topics such as the role of telehealth in improving patients' access to care, access to high-speed internet, the link between telehealth and workforce needs, and telehealth's role in behavioral health care access.

During Labor Day weekend, staff from the HRSA HIV/AIDS Bureau's CHANGE Initiative exhibited at Atlanta Black Pride Weekend, met with over 400 attendees to discuss HIV care and treatment, discussed support available from the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program, and helped connect participants to testing.

This year's theme is Todos Somos Uno: We Are All, We Are One. Thanks to the HRSA Hispanic Employee Resource Group, this year HRSA enjoyed an onsite Latin Fest showcasing food, music, art, and culture, along with information booths and a thoughtful speakers program focused on improving understanding of health outcomes for Hispanic/Latino communities.

HRSA's Office of Intergovernmental and External Affairs hosted two Grants 101 workshops for local and state governments, health departments, colleges and universities, and community-based and faith-based organizations.

On September 7, Rosie Mangual from HRSA's Region 4 Atlanta regional office shared information about HRSA programs and funding opportunities with nearly 150 participants at a federal grants workshop hosted at the invitation of Congressman Gus Bilirakis.

In addition, HRSA's Region 7 partnered with the HHS Region 7 Regional Director to host a Grants 101 workshop in Kansas City, Missouri, (pictured) for 175 potential grant applicants from health departments, colleges and universities, and community and faith-based organizations.

HRSA awarded a total of $400,000 to eight final winners of our national IEA/BPHC 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 Health 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.