Maryland Community Health Resources Commission
February 28, 2022 | Issue 78
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The Maryland State Senate Confirms the Appointments of Flor Giusti and Dave Lehr as CHRC Commissioners
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Flor Giusti and Dave Lehr were nominated by Governor Hogan earlier this summer to serve as CHRC Commissioners. Their appointments were confirmed earlier this month by the Maryland State Senate. The CHRC congratulates Commissioner Giusti and Commissioner Lehr on their confirmations.
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Flor Giusti has worked for more than 20 years with members of the Latino community in Baltimore. In her current clinical role at Johns Hopkins Bayview, Ms. Giusti works with women and their families to assist them in attaining their potential and she helps clients achieve their goals in a safe environment, which includes access to health and education. Ms. Giusti received her Masters in Social Work from the University of Maryland at Baltimore and completed a degree in Clinical Psychology at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú.
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Dave Lehr is Meritus Health’s first chief strategy officer. Mr. Lehr recently served as a co-chair on the national opioid taskforce for the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives which brings CIOs together across the country to fight the opioid epidemic. Earlier in his career, Mr. Lehr founded a consulting practice and a cloud-based clinical decision support company, Maven Medical. Mr. Lehr also worked previously at Epic, the electronic medical records company.
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CHRC Thanks Ivy Simmons for Her Service as a Commissioner
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The CHRC extends its gratitude to Dr. Carol Ivy Simmons, who concluded her service as a Commissioner last month. During her five years of service, Commissioner Simmons led the Commission’s efforts to expand access to Behavioral Health services and contributed greatly to the Commission’s work on health equity. Dr. Simmons, who previously served as a Commander in the U.S. Public Health Service, brought considerable expertise to the Commission’s grant management and grant monitoring activities that hold grantees accountable for performance. Dr. Simmons now serves as Director of the Behavioral Health Service Line for Mid-Atlantic States for Kaiser Permanente. We wish her the best in her future endeavors and thank her for her lasting contributions to the work of the CHRC.
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UPDATE: Pathways to Health Equity Call for Proposals
The CHRC voted on February 15 to award nine grants under the new Pathways to Health Equity program, investing a total of $13.5 million in new resources in underserved communities across the state. Specific health disparities targeted by the new projects include diabetes, asthma, heart disease and hypertension, mental health, Substance Use Disorder, maternal and child health, and Sickle Cell Disease. Click here to read the press release and click here to view program summaries for the nine grantees.
To sign up for the Health Equity Resource Community (HERC)/Pathways Mailing List, visit Sign Up.
For more information, please visit the CHRC’s HERC webpage.
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UPDATE: FY 2022 Call for Proposals
Mandatory Letters of Intent for the CHRC’s FY 2022 annual Call for Proposals were due earlier today. CHRC staff will review the Letters of Intent and contact applicants to notify them of their eligibility. Full grant proposals will be due to the CHRC no later than 12:00pm (noon) on March 22, 2022. Send full grant proposals to mdh.chrc@maryland.gov.
Under the FY 2022 Call for Proposals, the Commission will provide a total of $7 million in new grant funding for the following three areas: (1) Addressing chronic disease prevention and management, including diabetes and its comorbidities, hypertension, and heart disease; (2) Promoting family health, including maternal and child health, and childhood asthma; and (3) Addressing Behavioral Health, including Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder and the ongoing impact of the opioid crisis.
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Let’s LEAD! Health Equity and Disparity Event May 9, 2022, to Discuss Best Practices and a Regional Collaborative
Join regional leaders for a Leaders in Equity and Diversity (LEAD) Planning and Best Practice Event on Monday, May 9, 2022, from 9:30am to 3:00pm in Hagerstown, MD.
The (LEAD) Planning and Best Practice Event is sponsored by AARP and Meritus Health, and supported by the Maryland Hospital Association and the Maryland Department of Health. The goal of the May 9th event is to hear best practices nationally and to discuss a collaborative approach that brings together healthcare delivery organizations for specific, action-oriented learning targeting meaningful outcomes. The event aims to gather input into the design and key success factors for an equity and diversity collaborative with focus on minority aging populations to live a healthier, productive life and begin to harvest best and emerging practices.
Attendance is limited to 50 people. If you are interested in attending, please e-mail Christie Phillips at Christie.Phillips@meritushealth.com with your name, title, organization and email address.
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Community Health Worker Grant Opportunities
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The Maryland Department of Health, Office of Population Health Improvement, has issued two Requests for Applications (RFAs); one for the development and implementation of new community health worker (CHW) certification training programs, and one for CHW certification training programs currently accredited by the Department to modify their curricula with the addition of a module on COVID-19 and the related health disparities among populations at high-risk and underserved minority populations and rural communities. Both RFAs below include a maximum award amount and the number of possible awards. Proposals for both RFAs are due by March 10, 5:00 PM.
BPM028105: Community Health Worker Training Program Development, Accreditation, and Implementation. Please see the RFA for complete information.
BPM028117: Accredited Community Health Worker Certification Training Programs - COVID-19 Module Development, Implementation and Training. Please see the RFA for complete information.
Please email RFA questions to Tiffanie Powell at tiffanie.powell@maryland.gov and include the RFA identification number in the subject line.
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Emergency Food Program Grant Opportunities
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Two emergency food programs administered by the Maryland Department of Human Services are currently accepting grant applications. The Maryland Emergency Food Program is accepting grant applications for organizations to purchase food for groceries and meals for families in need. Eligible applicants must be tax-exempt and include soup kitchens, food banks, food pantries, shelters, residential treatment programs, and after-school programs. The deadline for applications is March 18, 2022. For more information, click here.
The Statewide Nutrition Assistance Equipment Program is also accepting grant applications for emergency food providers to purchase equipment such as freezers and other appliances that will increase their capacity to purchase, store, and distribute food. The deadline for applications is April 8, 2022. For more information, click here.
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March is National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month
March is National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. The event was established in 2000 by Presidential Proclamation to help raise awareness about risk factors, prevention and screening, with many organizations sponsoring events that serve to support this goal. For more information about colorectal cancer visit the CDC website at CDC or the American Cancer Society ACS.
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Larry Hogan, Governor
Boyd K. Rutherford, Lieutenant Governor
Dennis R. Schrader, Health (MDH) Secretary
CHRC Commissioners: Edward J. Kasemeyer, Chair, J. Wayne Howard, Vice Chair, Scott Gibson, Flor Giusti, David Lehr, Karen-Ann Lichtenstein, Carol Masden, Sadiya Muqueeth, DrPH, Destiny-Simone Ramjohn, PhD
Mark Luckner, Executive Director
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