HRSA Funding, Featured Topic: Workforce, Upcoming Events, and Resources

November 24, 2021

FUNDING

Community-Based Workforce to Build COVID-19 Vaccine Confidence – December 10. The purpose of the program is to strengthen vaccine confidence, provide further information and education on the vaccines and improve rates of vaccination across the country. This program will mobilize community outreach workers, which includes community health workers, patient navigators and social support specialists to the most vulnerable and medically underserved communities, including racial and ethnic minority groups. Community outreach workers will educate, and assist individuals in receiving the COVID-19 vaccination. This includes activities such as reaching out directly to community members to educate them about the vaccine, assisting individuals in making a vaccine appointment, providing resources (e.g. convenient vaccine locations, information for individuals impacted by COVID-19 and its long-term health effects), and assisting individuals with transportation or other needs to get to their vaccine appointments. Specifically, the program will aim to build vaccine confidence in order to get people vaccinated in a quick and efficient manner. The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) will fund applicants that have demonstrated experience and expertise in implementing public health programs across broad geographic areas.

Delta Region Community Health Systems Development Program – December 15. Applications are currently being accepted from small and rural hospitals, rural health clinics, and other health care organizations located in the 252 counties and parishes served by the Delta Regional Authority (a federal agency and HRSA partner) to receive technical assistance. Activities will support quality improvement, financial and operational improvement, telehealth, community care coordination, workforce, emergency medical services, and population health. Learn more about the application process and submit an application now through December 15thto be considered for the next cohort starting activities this winter.

Rural Health Network Development Planning Program – January 28. The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) will make approximately 20 awards of $100,000 each for a one-year period of performance to promote the development of integrated health care networks in order to (i) achieve efficiencies; (ii) expand access to, coordinate, and improve the quality of basic health care services; and (iii) strengthen the rural health care system as a whole. Eligible applicants are domestic public and private, nonprofit and for-profit entities that can deliver services in HRSA-designated rural area, particularly for populations that have historically been underserved and have poorer health outcomes. The applicant organization must represent a network that includes at least three or more health care provider organizations. HRSA’s Federal Office of Rural Health Policy will hold an hour-long webinar for applicants on Wednesday November 17th  at 3:00 pm ET.  (Meeting ID: 161 864 4747; Participant Code: 81822150). A recording will be made available for those who cannot attend. 

Rural Communities Opioid Response Program (Implementation) – January 13. The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) will make approximately 50 awards of $1 million each to rural communities to enhance prevention, treatment, and recovery from substance use disorder. Eligible applicants are domestic public, private, and nonprofit entities that can deliver services in HRSA-designated rural areas, particularly for populations that have historically suffered from poorer health outcomes. The applicant organization must be part of an established network or consortium that includes at least three other separately-owned entities.

HRSA Access to HIV Services for Women and Children – January 28. The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) expects to make 114 awards with a total investment of $75 million to expand family-centered care for low-income women, infants, children, and youth with HIV. Eligible applicants are existing grantees of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program Part D and new community-based organizations that can provide services in areas where current projects are ending. (See Appendix B in Related Documents, Notice of Funding Opportunity.) The amount for this round of funding has been increased to address areas, primarily rural, with limited resources.

 

FEATURED TOPIC: WORKFORCE

Health Workforce Strategic Plan – Provides a framework for health workforce improvements and addresses long-standing barriers to strengthening the health workforce. Focuses on recruiting and training health professionals from underserved communities to build a diverse, representative health workforce; ensuring equitable distribution of the workforce across geographic areas and health professions; strengthening the ability of the workforce to deliver high-quality care, including through strengthening cultural and linguistic competency of professionals; and using evidence and data to make better decisions about health workforce education and training investments.

3RNET provides services to those seeking employment in health care professions with the desire to improve rural and underserved communities’ access to quality health care.  If you’re a health care employer and you’d like to post your jobs on 3RNET, please fill out the employer application form which will be sent to the appropriate state Network Coordinator.

HRSA Health Workforce Loan Repayment Programs Open – Application Due Date: Thursday, December 16, 7:30 p.m. ET.  The Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA) National Health Service Corps (NHSC) opened its application for three of its loan repayment programs and plans to award a significant number of eligible providers. With an additional $800 million made available through the Biden-Harris Administration’s American Rescue Plan (ARP), this year’s awardees will add to the largest number of NHSC clinicians in history. 

Eligible clinicians providing primary medical, dental, behavioral health care services, or evidence-based substance use disorder treatment can qualify for loan repayment of up to:

HRSA Rural Residency Planning and Development (RRPD) Program – December 20. The RRPD program aims to increase opportunities for physicians to train in rural residencies. A total of $10.5 million will develop 14 new rural residency programs that are accredited by the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). Eligible applicants include rural hospitals, GME consortiums, and tribal organizations.

HRSA Delta Region Rural Health Workforce Training Program – January 25. The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)  expects to make three awards with total investment of $1.4 million for training critical administrative support in the rural counties and parishes of the Mississippi Delta Region. These occupations include medical coding and billing, claims processing, information management, and clinical documentation.

Nurse Corps Loan Repayment Program – January 13. The Nurse Corps Loan Repayment Program offers funding to registered nurses, advanced practice registered nurses and nurse faculty toward payment of their qualifying educational loans in exchange for a two-year service commitment at a health care facility with a critical shortage of nurses or at an eligible school of nursing in the case of nurse faculty. Additional loan repayment is available for a third year of service.

 

UPCOMING MEETINGS / TRAININGS / WEBINARS

National Rural Health Day

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is hosting a webinar to celebrate National Rural Health Day on Thursday, November 18 at 10:30 a.m. CT | 11:30 a.m. ET. Federal speakers will share strategies, activities, and resources related to achieving health equity in rural communities, and HRSA grantees will share best practices in their projects focused on health equity during a panel discussion.

Register for the webinar

There are a variety of other events throughout the week. View the HRSA National Rural Health Day webpage for more information and a schedule of events.

HHS Region 7 Virtual Office Hours – December 1 | 9:00am – 9:45am CT. The Virtual Office Hours will provide partners and stakeholders the networking platform to engage with Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) leadership and subject matter experts to get answers to program and resource questions, request technical assistance and training, and share critical surveillance about emergent local, state, and regional healthcare issues/trends. Among the agencies that are scheduled to be in attendance are the Administration for Children and Families, Administration for Community Living, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. HHS will provide a few program updates, followed by a Q&A session.

To register for the office hours, go here.

To help prepare for the session, please send questions by COB November 26th to Catherine.Satterwhite@hhs.gov.

Let’s Talk Lunch and Learn…Count the Kicks – December 2, 2021 | 12:30 pm – 1:00 pm CT. Join the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH) and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Region 7 for a conversation on bringing systemic change to stillbirth prevention and the importance of tracking fetal movement.  Featured Speaker: Emily Price, Executive Director, Healthy Birth Day, Inc

Grant Writing Training: “Elements of a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO)” – December 8th | 10am Central. Heather Zoromski, Executive Director of the Darr Family Foundation, will walk participants through the Rural Health Network Development Planning Program NOFO. Heather will highlight how to best structure a grant application, using the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) as an outline, as well as share other tips and tricks for success.

 

RESOURCES

NEW RHIhub Toolkit – Medication for Opioid Use Disorder Toolkit Created in collaboration with NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis, this newly released toolkit compiles evidence-based and promising models and resources to support programs implementing Medication for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD) in rural communities.

Medicare and Medicaid Programs: Omnibus COVID-19 Health Care Staff Vaccination Emergency Regulation (IFC-6)

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published an emergency regulation requiring staff vaccinations for COVID-19 across a variety of Medicare and Medicaid-certified health care providers. This emergency regulation requires staff vaccinations across 15 specific health care providers participating in the Medicare and Medicaid program to address the clear and present need to protect patients against COVID-19. The following health care provider and supplier types are included within this regulation and are expected to comply by ensuring staff are vaccinated:

  • Ambulatory Surgery Centers, Community Mental Health Centers, Comprehensive Outpatient Rehabilitation Facilities, Critical Access Hospitals, End-Stage Renal Disease Facilities, Home Health Agencies, Home Infusion Therapy Suppliers, Hospices, Hospitals, Intermediate Care Facilities for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities, Clinics, Rehabilitation Agencies, and Public Health Agencies as Providers of Outpatient Physical Therapy and Speech-Language Pathology Services, Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facilities (PRTFs) Programs for All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly Organizations (PACE), Rural Health Clinics/Federally Qualified Health Centers, and Long Term Care facilities.

 

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