HRSA June in Brief

HRSA Administrator Carole Johnson celebrated Pride Month 2024 by releasing the following message: "This Pride Month, HRSA continues to proudly stand with the LGBTQI+ community, ensuring access to quality health care and supportive services through HRSA's Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program, HRSA-supported community health centers, and other programs. Together, we continue to advance health equity and promote the well-being of the LGBTQI+ community."

As part of HRSA's Enhancing Maternal Health Initiative, Administrator Carole Johnson, Deputy Administrator Jordan Grossman, and Maternal and Child Health Bureau Associate Administrator Dr. Michael Warren met with grantees, health center providers and home visitors, National Health Service Corps scholars who provide maternity care to high-need communities, tribal leaders, and mothers who have benefited from HRSA programs for convenings in Flagstaff, Arizona (June 3) and Bozeman, Montana (June 11). These convenings highlight HRSA programs across each state and foster cross-program and cross-state collaborations to improve maternal health outcomes, especially in rural and tribal communities across Arizona and Montana.

During the Arizona convening, Deputy Administrator Grossman announced $15 million to address maternal health needs and disparities in rural communities through the Rural Maternity and Obstetrics Management Strategies (Rural MOMS) Program and a new program focused on strengthening maternal care and reducing disparities in the South and Midwest. Deputy Administrator Grossman also visited with health care providers at North Country HealthCare, a HRSA-funded health center in Flagstaff, and Valleywise Health in Phoenix, a Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program recipient.

During the Montana convening, Administrator Johnson announced $5.4 million in funding available for Montana to expand its Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting program, an evidence-based initiative providing voluntary services to expectant families and those with young children. On June 12, she also spoke at the 2024 Meadowlark Initiative Conference hosted by the Montana Healthcare Foundation, where she highlighted HRSA's ongoing efforts to integrate behavioral health services into primary care and prenatal care.

These were the latest state convenings as part of HRSA's year-long initiative to help strengthen and expand HRSA's maternal health work to address the unacceptable rates of maternal mortality and related disparities in the United States.

On June 12, Administrator Johnson met with Mark & Robyn Jones College of Nursing leaders at Montana State University-Bozeman to learn about their innovative approaches to training nurses in rural and frontier communities.

On June 13, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Xavier Becerra and White House Domestic Policy Advisor Neera Tanden announced more than $11 million in HRSA awards to 15 organizations to establish new residency programs in rural communities while visiting a rural health clinic in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin.

Building on HRSA's Enhancing Maternal Health Initiative, one program will create the first obstetrics and gynecology Rural Track Program in the country, and six others will develop new family medicine residency programs with enhanced obstetrical training in rural communities.

On June 26, HRSA Deputy Administrator Jordan Grossman announced new policy action to facilitate access to housing for people with HIV served by the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program during the Advancing Housing, Health, and Social Care Partnerships Conference in Bethesda, Maryland. Leaders from HRSA's HIV/AIDS Bureau and Bureau of Primary Health Care also participated on a federal panel.

The new policy action addresses a key barrier to HIV care—a lack of access to stable housing. The new policy will help provide more housing opportunities for people living with HIV and support better health outcomes.

In 2022, 91% of Ryan White Program clients with stable housing who received medical care reached viral suppression—meaning they cannot sexually transmit HIV to other people and can live a long, healthy life—compared to 78% of clients with unstable housing.

On June 13, Maternal and Child Health Bureau Associate Administrator Dr. Michael Warren visited the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) in Itasca, Illinois.

Associate Administrator Warren took the opportunity to discuss the next iteration of Bright Futures, a set of preventive care guidelines for children. The Bright Futures initiative is a national health promotion and prevention initiative funded in part by HRSA.

Since the Affordable Care Act was signed into law in 2010, 37 million children have received access to preventive services without cost sharing.

Staff from HRSA's Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program attended the Baltimore AFRAM Festival, one of the largest Black/African American events on the East Coast. The festival was held June 22 – 23 and showcased African American music, art, and culture. HRSA staff set up an interactive exhibit booth to provide information about HIV care, treatment, prevention, and Ryan White Program resources.

HRSA observed HIV Long-Term Survivors Awareness Day on June 5. Since 2014, this occasion has celebrated the remarkable resilience of HIV long-term survivors, shared their stories, and commemorated those who have lost their lives to HIV. The 2024 theme was Mobilize to Thrive: Prioritizing Quality of Life.

HIV.gov and TargetHIV.org highlighted the story and reflections of long-term survivor Antigone Dempsey, HRSA's Associate Administrator of the Office of Intergovernmental and External Affairs (IEA). For nearly 34 years, the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program has provided people with HIV the care, treatment, medication, and essential support services needed to reach viral suppression and live longer and healthier lives. In 2022, more than 48% of Ryan White Program clients were ages 50 and older.

Staff members from HRSA IEA joined several community events to recognize National HIV Testing Day, which is observed each year on June 27.

HRSA Region 2 (New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, and U.S. Virgin Islands) Acting Regional Administrator CAPT Chandak Ghosh and Octavia Wisseh attended New York City's annual National HIV Testing Day event on June 25 at Union Square Park in Manhattan, where several HRSA-funded health centers provided HIV testing and resources to the community.

HRSA Region 2 Public Health Analyst Melanie Deal joined staff from the Puerto Rico Department of Health and HRSA Ryan White Program recipients for a community outreach event in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

HRSA Region 7 (Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska) Public Health Analyst Myesha Kennedy joined HRSA-funded KC CARE Health Center at a local Walgreens to provide free HIV testing kits and promote HRSA's HIV/AIDS resources to local communities in Kansas City, Missouri. HRSA's Ryan White Program and Health Center Program work together to help people across the country get tested for HIV and get HIV care and treatment.

On June 28, Colleen McCarty, Deputy Regional Administrator for Region 4 (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee), joined Commander Ali Danner, HRSA Project Officer; UAB President Ray Watts; and former U.S. Senator Richard Shelby to support the groundbreaking ceremony for the new Biomedical Research and Psychology building at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). HRSA provided $152 million to support the $190 million project.

The state-of-the-art facility will enhance UAB's research capabilities in biomedical sciences and psychology. Expected to drive breakthroughs in health sciences, the new facility promises to foster innovation and advance research, ultimately improving health outcomes for years to come.