THE OFFICE OF HEALTH EQUITY NEWSLETTER

December 2018

Zipcodes Don't Kill People - Racism Does

Submitted by: M. Gabriela Alcade Health philanthropy has increasingly been coming to terms with a truth that  public health  and  social justice  have known for decades (if not centuries): the health and well-being of communities depend not so much on health care, but on the  social, physical, and economic environment  that we live, work, learn, and play in. We are understanding that while we have primarily focused on supporting direct service and individual-level interventions, it is work at the  population-level  that yields the broadest, and more sustainable, changes. This is a good thing. The more accurately we can describe the problem, the better we will be at designing and supporting solutions that can lead us to healthy and thriving communities. Read More.

Federal Rescoring of Automatic Facility HPSA Designations

The Virginia Primary Care Office (PCO) began responding to the documentation provided by its Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), look-a-likes, Community Health Centers (CHCs), and Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) received from HRSA, at the beginning of November 2018. The Virginia PCO is focused on mitigating the effects of the national rescoring process, and advocating on your behalf to HRSA. There will be at least five practice runs of this update, before April 2019, to show how the data at these time points would affect the final rescoring. No changes will be made to any auto-HPSA score before April 2019, unless explicitly requested by the facilities. The Virginia PCO is in the process of confirming and updating provider workforce data, in preparation for this rescoring. Most of the clinic networks received a list of providers on staff resulting from the first practice run, in early November 2018. We request that the clinics examine this list, identify any missing or incorrectly listed providers, and send these edits to the PCO designation specialist, Anna Riggan, at  anna.riggan@vdh.virginia.gov  .  For networks that did not receive such a list from HRSA, the Virginia PCO requests that you contact us, so that we may send you what we received from HRSA to review.  The most important information for each provider record will be: The National Provider Identifier Number (NPI) Primary practice address Direct patient care hours per week. The HRSA Shortage Designation Branch (SDB) will also hold several technical assistance webinars for facilities affected by the rescoring, between now and April 2019. Recordings for the first 2 webinars can be found at,  https://bhw.hrsa.gov/sdmp , along with an official breakdown of the rescoring plans.  All non-provider related questions should be directed to SDB at,  SDMP@HRSA.GOV .

Danville YHELI Earned Volunteer Hours in the Community

Danville YHELI students recently accumulated volunteer hours by participating in a breast cancer benefit, breast cancer basketball game, and a community meeting that included the Mayor of Danville. “The Danville YHELI encourages us and shows us students to be leaders, not followers,” a YHELI student said. Community service is a key component to improving the students' resumes for job and college applications. In addition, guest speakers have attended the weekly after-school sessions to speak about the college and career experience including an Urban Planner, Public Health Nurse, Alpha Kappa Alpha mentors, and Averett University basketball players. This year, students will continue to engage in a rigorous curriculum designed to enhance critical thinking, leadership, and educational attainment. Students will explore career paths, higher educational opportunities, serve as youth leaders, advocates and mentors and participate in field trips (college visits, museums, etc.). To learn more, volunteer to present at a career day, present on a topic as a subject-matter expert, provide grant/scholarship/funding opportunities, or to request student leaders for community service efforts in the Danville area, please contact, Shani Gaylord, Danville YHELI Program Manager at (804) 489-6459. More information on this five-year grant initiative can also be found on the web.

2018 Virginia Rural Health Association (VRHA) Awardees

Pictured are VRHA Executive Director Beth O'Connor, Delegate Terry Kilgore, Summer Sage, Jim Werth (representing Stone Mountain Health Services), and Dr. Laura Hunt Trull

Award Categories: Best Practices in Rural Health: Stone Mountain Health Services Black Lung Program Lawmaker of the Year: Delegate Terry Kilgore Friend of the Association: Summer Sage Visit the VRHA website to learn more about this year's awardees, here.

NHSC Students to Service (S2S) Applications due December 20

Deadlines are fast approaching for the National Health Service Corps Students to Service (S2S) Loan Repayment Program. If you are interested in learning more about this opportunity, applications are due Thursday, December 20. This year, the application requires two letters of recommendation- a preceptor letter of recommendation, and one additional letter of recommendation. To learn more about the requirements to apply, visit NHSC online for more details here.

Workforce Unit Shared Resources at Scholarship Fair in Virginia Beach

The Office of Health Equity's health workforce unit attended the annual Scholarship Sharing fair in October to increase awareness about loan repayment programs, scholarships and other opportunities in health professional shortage areas. The event attracted more than 4,000 registrants. Scholarship Sharing has only been around for a few years but has become increasingly popular for scholarship seekers in the Virginia and Metropolitan Washington area. This year's event took place at Virginia Wesleyan University.

Pictured: Dianna Williams and Cassandra Braxton distributing information to students. Not seen in the picture but present was Olivette Burroughs.

Attend Health Equity Community Conversations at the Black History Museum

Interested in attending? DATE AND TIME 01/12/19 2:00pm - 01/12/19 4:00pm I'll be there! Maybe I can't make it

Education and Funding Opportunities

University of Michigan/National Center for Institutional Diversity (NCID)- December 17 Scholarship This new initiative at NCID is available to mid-career and senior diversity scholars interested in spending an acadmic year at the University of Michigan. Learn more .

Rural Development Opportunity- United States Department of Agriculture Funding Opportunity RCDI grants are awarded to help non-profit housing and community development organizations, low-income rural communities and federally recognized tribes support housing, community facilities and community and economic development projects in rural areas to improve housing, community facilities, and community and economic development projects in rural areas.    Learn more .

HHS/Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) - December 21 Funding Opportunity Healthy Transitions: Improving Life Trajectories for Youth and Young Adults with Serious Mental Disorders Program. Eligibility is limited to state, tribal or territorial agencies that oversee delivery of mental health services to youth (16-25) with serious mental disorders. Learn more .

Foundation of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry/Healthy Smiles, Healthy Children- December 21 Funding Opportunity 2019 -2010 Access to Care Grants supports community-based initiatives that provide dental care to underserved children. Learn More .

Primary Care Training and Enhancement: Integrating Behavioral Health and Primary Care Program - January 28, 2019 Funding Opportunity The Health Resources and Services Administration  (HRSA) is accepting applications for the fiscal year (FY) 2019 Primary Care Training and Enhancement (PCTE): Integrating Behavioral Health and Primary Care (IBHPC) funding opportunity. The application cycle closes on January 28, 2019. Learn More .

AHA Rural Health Care Leadership Conference February 3-6, 2019 in Phoenix, AZ Register .

Rural Health Policy Institute Conference February 5-7, 2019 in Washington, DC Register.

2019 Telehealth Summit Conference March 31- April 2, 2019 in Williamsburg, VA Register .

HealthHIV, HealthHCV and the National Coalition for LGBT Health: SYNChronicity 2019 National Conference April 14-16, 2019 in Washington, D.C.  Register .

National Conference on Health Disparities Conference June 19-22, 2019, Oakland, CA Register

This project was supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human (HHS) under grant number H95RHoo138

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