House National Health Service Corps (NHSC) Funding Bill Passes with Bipartisan Support

On Dec. 11, House lawmakers passed H.R. 5378, the Lower Costs, More Transparency Act, in a bipartisan vote. This legislation would fund the NHSC over the next two years at $350 million annually—$40 million above current mandatory levels. Other key provisions to support health centers include funding Section 330 annually at $4.4 billion over the next two years, $400 million above current mandatory levels, and including a seventh year of funding through FY2030 for the Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education program. Learn more about what comes next in legislation and in advocacy through our full update and become an ACU Advocate to stay informed!

Reminder: Submit Your Proposal for Our 2024 Conference Call for Abstracts

Now is your chance to submit a workshop and poster abstract for our 2024 Conference, Envisioning a More Equitable Future: Advancing Stakeholder-Centered Innovation! In Washington, DC, on Aug. 4-7, our 2024 Conference will explore the importance of including stakeholder voices and input–whether from patients, staff, communities, or partners–when shaping innovations in workforce development, clinical practice, or community engagement and advocacy to help bring holistic, equitable, and inclusive care within reach for underserved populations. ACU is seeking in-person workshop and poster proposals reflective of our theme in any one of numerous tracks by Feb. 9.

Draft Agenda Now Available! Learn More & Register for Our 2024 ACU STAR² Center Workforce Symposium

April 29-30 in Nashville, TN

Curious about what's in store at our 2024 Workforce Symposium: Inclusive Innovation: Putting People First? ACU's STAR² Center has now released a tentative schedule and agenda to help you learn more and plan your trip. From April 29-30 in Nashville, TN, our interactive Symposium will feature sessions on psychological safety, ensuring excellence in onboarding, fostering pay equity, HRSA and advocacy updates, and more. A separate Comprehensive Workforce Plan Workshop, Choose Your Own Workforce Adventure, will follow on May 1-2. Learn more and register now or contact us with any questions.

View Session Three in Our Caregiver Webinar Series and Stay Tuned for Upcoming Sessions

Catch up on our Beyond the Clinic: Caregivers and Home Health Workers webinar series—the video and slides for session three are now available. Learn about engaging consumers and their caregivers and the legal and ethical implications in this latest session. Don't forget to sign up to receive notifications for our upcoming 2024 schedule that will highlight caregivers as a window into the living environment, allies for emotional support, and communication and conflict resolution.

In Case You Missed It: Access Slides from BPHC's Workforce Well-being Technical Assistance Webinar

The Bureau of Primary Health Care (BPHC) recently held a kickoff webinar sharing plans to leverage the data from the HRSA Health Center Workforce Well-being Survey in concert with JSI and ACU in a new initiative to shape the future of healthcare workforce well-being. View the slides from this event and subscribe to the newsletter and explore the BPHC Well-being Technical Assistance website to stay informed on upcoming initiatives.

In Case You Missed It: View Our Webinar on Building a Health Professions Education and Training Program

Health Professions Education and Training (HP-ET) programs provide a pathway for training staff to fill vital roles and allowing health centers to recruit new staff from within the community. Access the slides and view our recent session exploring various examples of HP-ETs, including those accomplished through partnerships with educational institutions, other healthcare organizations, or self-sustained within the health center.

Further Workforce Resources

• Publication: Building a Resilient & Trauma-Informed Workforce Factsheet
• Resource: C-Suite Toolkit: HPET for Recruitment and Retention
• Publication: Health Center Onboarding Checklist

Don't Forget: Share Your Expertise with National Health Service Corps Participants

ACU is recruiting webinar presenters with expertise in addressing clinician burnout and improving workforce wellness, screening for and addressing social determinants of health in patients, or creating interventions to reduce health disparities for our NHSC Empowering Clinicians Initiative. The webinars will take place January-August 2024 and are designed to support NHSC participants and leadership staff at NHSC-approved sites. Honoraria are available. Learn more and fill out our Speaker Interest Form. We would especially love to hear from current and former NHSC participants!

Explore ACU's JEDI Orientation Series for Healthcare Workers with Free E-Courses

Are you a healthcare worker interested in learning more about justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI) concepts and principles? Access our free e-courses on Understanding Racism in Healthcare and Having Tough Conversations: Creating a Brave Space Filled with Grace to explore how racism manifests in the healthcare system, how to cultivate cultures where speaking openly and honestly is encouraged, and more. A certificate is available after completing the course assessments.

Now Available in Spanish! Read Our Guide to Suicide Prevention in Primary Care

Suicide is a growing public health crisis in the U.S., and primary care providers have crucial opportunities to help address this epidemic. To better equip healthcare professionals with strategies to identify and care for patients at risk, ACU previously developed, "Suicide Prevention in Primary Care: A Toolkit for Primary Care Clinicians and Leaders," and we're excited to unveil our newly translated edition in Español with the aid of the Asociación de Salud Primaria de Puerto Rico (ASPPR). Read the guide or view our accompanying webinar with our partners at ASPPR.

Don't Miss the Next Webinar in Our Suicide Prevention for CHC Patients & Staff Series

Next Session: Jan. 11 at 10-11 a.m. ET

Nearly half of people who end their lives by suicide visit a primary care provider in the month before their passing, and CHCs have key opportunities to identify and care for patients at risk. Learn evidence-based suicide prevention strategies in our webinar series with the Missouri Primary Care Association. The next presentation on Jan. 11 will explore best practices for "Suicide Safer Care for Behavioral Health Providers in Primary Care Settings" at CHCs. Register now for this and other remaining webinars or view previous recorded sessions, including yesterday's webinar on preventing clinician suicide:

View Our Recent Webinar on Preventing Suicide in Indigenous Youth

Suicide is a leading cause of death in youth aged 10-14, and Indigenous children are particularly at risk with suicide rates nearly 3.5 times the national average. To help organizations better care for these patients, ACU recently held a webinar exploring considerations in suicide in Indigenous youth, lessons learned from experts, and evidence-based suicide prevention. If you missed the presentation or would like to review what you learned, the archived webinar is now available.

Our New Podcast Series Highlights Health Equity Issues and Caring for Underserved Communities

ACU's new bimonthly Purpose in Practice podcast has launched! Enjoy interviews with healthcare professionals, health equity advocates, and others as we discuss advancing health equity, improving the quality of healthcare for underserved communities, and more. In our first episode we talk with the Chair of ACU's Vision Services Committee and Coastal Family Health Center's Director of Optometry Dr. Ashley Burns about how vision care impacts overall health and the challenges faced by patients living in medically under-resourced areas.

Welcoming Our Latest Member

ACU welcomes the University of South Alabama's Student-Run Free Clinic as our latest member. Students across multiple health and social science disciplines collaborate in this student-led initiative to empower patients through health education, the promotion of health literacy, and improving access to community health resources. Is your organization committed to advancing health equity for underserved populations? Learn more about ACU membership and contact us.

Support ACU and Health Equity in Yearend Giving

Thank you to everyone who donated last month to help further ACU's work and advocacy to support the healthcare workforce, advance health equity, and expand access to quality care for underserved populations on Giving Tuesday! There's still time to give to help support ACU and our work. For 27 years, the support of individuals like you has made our work possible. Additionally, donations to ACU are tax-deductible. Please consider making ACU a part of your yearend giving.

American Academy of Pediatrics Launches Free Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Course

A new education course on infant and childhood mental health is now available from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). Learn about common infant/early childhood mental health concerns that appear in clinical settings that are not well addressed and increase your knowledge and confidence in building strong relationships to help families be attuned to their young children in order to better address social-emotional/mental health concerns. Use code SAVE5 to access the course for free.

New Op-Ed from Our ACLM Partners Explores "How PCPs Are Penalized for Positive Outcomes from Lifestyle Change"

Growing evidence shows the efficacy of lifestyle medicine, but existing quality measures may not be aligned to consider lifestyle interventions, and some measures even unintentionally penalize physicians for using these strategies. A Medscape op-ed from Dr. Padmaja Patel, MD, President-Elect of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM), examines this issue, as well as the opportunity to realign these measures as part of CMS's National Quality Strategy. Read more and learn about our partnership with ACLM.

Reminder: Take a Survey to Help the National Academies Examine Factors Affecting Behavioral Clinicians' Participation in Medicare, Medicaid, & Marketplace Programs

If you haven't yet, we invite you to take a short survey from the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine's Committee on Strategies to Improve Access to Behavioral Health Care Services through Medicare and Medicaid to help explore factors that incentivize or disincentivize behavioral health care provider participation in Medicare, Medicaid, and Marketplace programs, with special attention to provider type. This input will inform the committee’s efforts to propose strategies to address current challenges.

New from ACU's Career Center: Behavioral Health QI Manager at AACI and More

Our Career Center is an excellent resource for job seekers or organizations seeking to hire quality staff to serve medically under-resourced populations. ACU Members get premier access by logging in to our member portal and using the discount code. This week, ACU is excited to highlight a Licensed Behavioral Health Quality Improvement Manager position with Asian Americans for Community Involvement (AACI) in San Jose, CA, as well as:

What We're Reading: Remembering Dr. Abe Bergman