HRSA eNews June 7, 2018

SAVE THE DATE: HRSA Maternal Mortality Summit

The theme for HRSA's Maternal Mortality Summit is Promising Global Practices to Improve Maternal Health Outcomes.  HRSA will bring together leading subject matter experts from within and beyond U.S. borders to highlight innovative strategies in reducing maternal mortality. In addition to experts from the U.S., invited countries include Brazil, Canada, Finland, India, Rwanda, and the United Kingdom, as well as the World Health Organization.  The Summit is invitation-only, and will be held from June 19-21. However, plenaries are open to the public via webcast. View the plenary schedule. Visit HRSA’s Maternal Mortality webpage.

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HRSA Remembers the Fallen

HRSA Administrator, George Sigounas, MS, Ph.D. (center, holding traditional red poppy bouquet) led staff in annual observances of America's military men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of the nation.

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HRSA Office of Information Technology Wins Top Recognition for New Data Analytics Platform

May 23 - The HRSA Office of Information Technology was the recent recipient of The American Council for Technology and Industry Advisory Council’s (ACT-IAC) award for its new Data Analytics Platform. The Data Analytics Platform vastly speeds up the grant-making and management process for HRSA’s more than 3,000 grantees; improves financial accountability; enhances program integrity and oversight; and reduces human error and data silos. Read the news release.

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Attention Health Centers: 2018 Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) Recognition Quality Awards

Health centers that have PCMH recognition by July 1 may be eligible to receive a 2018 Health Center PCMH Recognition Quality Award. View the table of health centers with valid PCMH recognition status and the number of sites with PCMH recognition. If your health center’s PCMH recognition is accurate, no action is needed. Otherwise, the page contains instructions for submitting an update via HRSA’s Electronic Handbooks (EHBs), including the acceptable forms of required documentation. If you have questions pertaining to your health center’s PCMH recognition information, contact the HRSA Accreditation and Patient-Centered Medical Home Initiative.

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Sending a Warning on Hepatitis

On Call: Dr. Laura Cheever, HAB Associate Administrator, spent much of her day on May 17 giving interviews to reporters about the hidden disease of hepatitis. Hepatitis Awareness Month is observed annually during the month of May. HRSA and its many public health partners work to share information about the comparatively little known epidemic of viral hepatitis, and encourage at-risk populations to be tested. More than four million Americans are living with viral hepatitis -- and IV drug use spurred by the opioid crisis is exacerbating the problem.

Hepatitis C, in particular, is a serious liver disease that often doesn't reveal itself until it's too late. Baby boomers are five times more likely to have Hepatitis C than other adults. Called a “silent epidemic,” most people with Hepatitis C do not know they are infected. To find out if you are at risk for viral hepatitis, take an assessment quiz from the CDC.

The virus is treatable, but can lead to inoperable liver cancer if left undiscovered.

Learn more about hepatitis.

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A Life – ‘Spiraled Viciously’

Courtney Lovell was at the end of her rope – a fugitive from the law in four counties – when she pulled her car over on the side of a country road on a bitterly cold night in 2008 and decided to end her life with an overdose of cocaine and heroin. Just nineteen years old, she defied every stereotype of the TV police drama drug user. She had been an honor student and three-sport, high school varsity athlete, from a small town in the bucolic lakes region north of New York City. Like nearly all of her classmates, she was white, "privileged" and college-bound. But that was before her first encounter with the "warm blanket" sensation of pain pills at a party thrown by a friend: "In the span of a year … my life spiraled viciously. I started using opioids every single day." Read more about Ms. Lovell's experience with opioids. Learn more about HRSA's efforts to combat the opioid crisis.

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Applying for a HRSA Grant: A Grantee and a Reviewer’s Perspective / The Benefits of Becoming a Reviewer

HRSA invites you to a FREE Grants Education and Technical Assistance Webinar Series for Tribes, Tribal Organizations, Indian Health, Tribal and Urban Indian Health Programs. The webinars will be held the second Wednesday of every month from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. ET Date: Wednesday, June 13 Time: 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. ET Register to attend.    This Month June Men's Health Month National HIV Testing Day (27) Funding Opportunities   Health Centers FY 2018 Capital Assistance for Hurricane Response and Recovery Efforts - Apply by June 14 Health Workforce Dental Faculty Loan Repayment Program - Apply by July 2 Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training (BHWET) Program – Supplemental Funding- Apply by July 6 HIV/AIDS Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program Part A HIV Emergency Relief Grant Program - Apply by September 21 Maternal & Child Health UA6 Life Course Intervention Research Network (LCI-RN) - Apply by June 12 Family-to-Family Health Information Centers – Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada - Apply by June 18 Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program - Formula - Apply by June 29 Newborn Screening Family Education Program - Apply by July 2 Rural Health Integration Models for Parents and Children to Thrive (IMPACT) - Apply by July 2 Maternal and Child Health Services - Apply by July 16 Expansion of the Family-to-Family Health Information Centers - Apply by July 19 Rural Health Evidence-Based Tele-Behavioral Health Network Program - Apply by June 25 Vulnerable Rural Hospitals Assistance Program - Apply by July 16  View All Funding Opportunities