HRSA March in Brief

On March 13, HRSA leadership convened stakeholders for a panel discussion on the Biden-Harris Administration’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 Budget for HRSA. The FY 2025 Budget (PDF - 3 MB) addresses many of the most pressing health care challenges facing American families, including taking action on maternity care deserts, addressing gaps in access to primary care, improving opioid treatment and recovery services in rural communities, providing care and treatment to people with HIV, growing the health care workforce, and improving the organ transplant matching system to better serve patients and families.

HRSA's FY 2025 budget will improve maternal health by building obstetric emergency care, training labor and delivery nurses and midwives, growing the community-based doula workforce, and expanding access to maternal mental health. HRSA will also expand access to quality health care by providing scholarships and loan repayments, and expanding access to medical, oral, and behavioral health services, including lifesaving cancer and early childhood screenings.

On March 15, HRSA Administrator Johnson met with medical school students and faculty at the Meharry Medical College, one of the few Historically Black Colleges and Universities with a medical school, in Nashville, Tennessee, to celebrate Match Day 2024. Match Day is the annual event where medical students from across the country learn where they will complete their medical residency.

Administrator Johnson spoke at the College’s National Resident Matching Program Match Day Ceremony and highlighted the vital role of HRSA grants and programs in expanding the health care workforce and ensuring all communities have access to quality care. Administrator Johnson also participated in a roundtable discussion with students and faculty who have been a part of HRSA-funded programs, including the National Health Service Corps scholarship program.

Meharry Medical College graduates approximately 14% of all Black physicians in the nation. HRSA supports Meharry Medical College’s work to train the next generation of physicians through our Centers of Excellence program that funds innovation in building a health care workforce that looks like the communities it serves. HRSA also funds Meharry Medical College’s efforts through the Health Careers Opportunity Program and Area Health Education Centers Program to build community partnerships that support young people to help recruit and develop them to become the next generation of physicians. In addition, HRSA’s support helps Meharry Medical College’s work to expand the number of primary care clinicians and integrate mental health into primary care training.

On March 18, HRSA Administrator Johnson presented at the AIDSWatch 2024 Conference held in Washington, DC, the largest constituent-led HIV advocacy event in the country supporting local, state, and national-level policies that will end the HIV epidemic. She discussed the HIV/AIDS Bureau’s Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program and HRSA’s investments as part of the Ending the HIV Epidemic in the U.S. Initiative.

Administrator Johnson highlighted the latest Ryan White Program data, which show that 9 out of 10 people with HIV receiving medical care through the program are virally suppressed. Viral suppression means people with HIV taking their medication cannot sexually transmit HIV and can live longer and healthier lives.

The Administrator also underscored the successes shown by the data on the first several years of the Ending HIV Epidemic Initiative, as more than 22,000 people were newly connected to care and more than 15,000 people were re-engaged in care, helping to save lives, prevent new HIV infections, and reduce the overall burden of the disease.

On March 6, HRSA Administrator Johnson and Bureau of Primary Health Care (BPHC) Associate Administrator Jim Macrae presented at the Advocates for Community Health (ACH) Annual Member Meeting. ACH is an advocacy group that represents some of the largest health centers that HRSA funds.

Administrator Johnson shared the context of HRSA’s work and discussed ongoing efforts to expand the reach of HRSA-funded health centers. Associate Administrator Macrae shared an overview of the Health Center Program and discussed the Bureau’s priorities and budget.

On March 6, White House Domestic Policy Advisor Neera Tanden joined HRSA and more than 900 rural health stakeholders to announce the Rural Opioid Treatment and Response Initiative and released the initiative’s funding application. The initiative will increase access to medications, expand support for the rural substance use disorder workforce, and facilitate supportive employment opportunities for individuals in recovery.

Administrator Johnson emphasized “Treatment works, and recovery is possible, which is why our new HRSA Rural Opioid Treatment and Recovery Initiative prioritizes building and expanding access to opioid use disorder treatment and recovery services in rural communities.”

White House Domestic Policy Advisor Tanden discussed the Biden-Harris Administration’s support for expanding access to evidence-based prevention, harm reduction, treatment, and recovery services; increasing access to medications for opioid use disorder; and new reimbursement options through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for non-clinical providers, marriage and family therapists, and mental health counselors.

On March 29, HRSA hosted a roundtable discussion with leaders from over 25 nursing and health care organizations on the newly released findings of the National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses. The survey is conducted every four years by HRSA’s National Center for Health Workforce Analysis in collaboration with the U. S. Census Bureau.

Participants at the roundtable discussed the importance of the new data and the investments HRSA is making to grow the nursing workforce and retain the current workforce.

Administrator Johnson underscored how HRSA has used the survey for nearly 50 years to hear directly from nurses across the country about their experiences to strengthen patient care, identify opportunities to support nurses, and learn how we can best grow the health workforce. She also emphasized how the survey findings and feedback from participants reinforce the need to increase HRSA’s investment in the nursing workforce and invest in innovative new training approaches.

On March 14, Administrator Johnson met with the HRSA Scholars and Health Equity Fellows Class of 2024, who will become future leaders of the federal workforce, to welcome them to HRSA.

From March 13 to 15, HRSA hosted a conference for more than 100 state health officials, researchers, and advocates on ways to curb maternal mortality in the United States. The conference focused on the need for better data collection and sharing, quality monitoring, and training.

Maternal and Child Health Bureau Associate Administrator Dr. Michael Warren spoke about efforts to combat the rise in the maternal mortality rate in the United States. BPHC Deputy Associate Administrator Onyeka Anaedozie reported on health center progress in providing maternal care services and noted that 1,400 HRSA-funded health centers nationally deliver more than 160,000 babies annually.

HRSA also discussed opportunities to develop uniform datasets to apply for grants across federal agencies and programs—including HRSA’s Healthy Start, Home Visiting, and State Maternal Health Innovation Program—and better share information within their local, state, and national networks.

On March 10, HRSA’s Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program observed National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. The theme was “Prevention and Testing at Every Age. Care and Treatment at Every Stage,” which highlights the ongoing impact of HIV on women and girls, and encourages HIV testing and prevention. The Ryan White Program helps women diagnosed with HIV get care, medication, and support services (PDF - 155 KB). In 2022, more than 25% of Ryan White clients were women, and nearly 60% of those clients were Black/African American women.

On March 20, HRSA observed National Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. The theme was “It’s All Relative, Our Experience Makes a Difference.” About 3,700 Ryan White Program clients are American Indian/Alaska Native and more than 88% are virally suppressed (PDF - 141 KB).

In March, HRSA regional leaders engaged with state health directors in Arkansas, Hawaii, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan (pictured), New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Texas to discuss HRSA programs and funding opportunities, including health workforce concerns and behavioral health needs. These meetings with state health officials demonstrate HRSA's ongoing commitment to understanding state and territorial health priorities and finding ways to work together to address the country's most pressing health needs.

On March 12, Administrator Johnson provided updates on HRSA's efforts to strengthen the health workforce at the Association of American Medical Colleges Government Relations Representatives meeting in Washington, DC. HRSA’s Office of Intergovernmental and External Affairs exhibited at the conference and shared resources on HRSA’s workforce programs with attendees.

On March 12, Administrator Johnson joined the National Indian Health Board First Quarter Meeting in Washington, DC. Tribal leaders engaged with the Administrator about HRSA activities to address maternal health issues, substance use disorder, and health workforce development in Indian Country as well as continued efforts to enhance partnerships with tribes. 

On March 25, HRSA Regional Administrator Valerie Gallo toured Mālama I Ke Ola's school-based health center in Kihei, Hawaii, with Senator Mazie Hirono and health center leadership. School-based health centers deliver comprehensive, high-quality primary health care services to children and adolescents.