As we collectively remember the life and the contributions of Dr. H. Jack Geiger, the quote by Sir Isaac Newton comes to mind, "If I have seen further, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants."  Delta Health Center joins its sister organizations, the over 1300 community health centers in Mississippi and across the nation, as we grieve, reflect, and honor the life and legacy of Dr. H. Jack Geiger, for his are the shoulders of which we stand. He was a leader, mentor, visionary, and trailblazer respected by the Community Health Center movement and thousands of others.

In response to the clarion call sounded by Dr. Robert Smith, Dr. Geiger first came to Mississippi to provide healthcare to the Freedom Riders who were registering African Americans to vote in 1964. He became aware of the generations of African Americans in the Mississippi Delta, who had no access to healthcare and were living in unhealthy and unsafe environments. Following that fateful “Freedom Summer,” Dr. Geiger, along with

Dr. Robert Smith, Dr. Count Gibson, and others, held an all-night meeting in a Greenville, Miss. hotel, emerging with a commitment to establish "neighborhood health centers" to address the plight and unmet needs of underserved, impoverished people and communities. Tufts-Delta Health Center was established in Mound Bayou, Miss., with funding from the newly formed Office of Economic Opportunity established by President Lyndon Johnson.

While this is a day of great sadness, Dr. H. Jack Geiger’s vision and work positively affected the lives of millions of Americans. His vision, tenacity, commitment, and compassion were beyond reproach.

After a delay, the President signed the massive spending bill approved by Congress that includes $1.4 trillion in government funding through the remainder of FY 2021 and $900+ billion in emergency COVID-19 relief. The bill, which passed by a vote of 359-53 in the House and 91-7 in the Senate, includes the following funding provisions of importance to Community Health Centers:

·   Health Center Program Funding

·   3 years of Mandatory Funding from FY2021 to FY2023 at $4 billion dollars per year

·   $1.7 billion in Discretionary Funding (appropriations) for FY2021

·   Teaching Health Center Funding

·   $126.5 million per year for THCGME for 3 years from FY2021 to FY2023

·   National Health Service Corps Funding

·   $310 million per year for NHSC for 3 years from FY2021 to FY2023

·   Provider Relief Fund Fix and Funding

·   An additional $3 billion general (non-FQHC specific) allocation and flexibility to calculate lost revenues

A division-by-division summary of the appropriations provisions is here. A division-by-division summary of the coronavirus relief provisions is here. A division-by-division summary of the authorizing matters is here. NACHC continues to analyze the package for provisions that impact community health centers and the patients we serve.

CMS approved MS SPA 20-0013 Vaccines on December 23, 2020. You can view the SPA and State Plan via this link.

Effective Dec. 11, 2020, the Mississippi Division of Medicaid (DOM) will reimburse Medicaid-enrolled pharmacy providers for COVID-19 vaccine claims billed on NCPDP D.0 pharmacy claims. Currently, the vaccine itself is being provided at no cost to providers and patients by the federal government, but DOM will still require submission of the vaccine NDC numbers on claims to ensure the appropriate administration fees are being billed for the vaccines given.

To learn more, read the attached notice here and consider sharing it in your publications.

please contact Desiree Stinson.

Grants with ongoing deadlines can be found here .