MARYLAND
Community Health Resources Commission
December 23, 2020 | Issue 65
Larry Hogan, Governor
 
Boyd K. Rutherford, Lieutenant Governor
 
Dennis R. Schrader,
Acting Secretary of Health
 
CHRC Commissioners
Elizabeth Chung, Chair
J. Wayne Howard, Vice Chair

Scott T. Gibson
Celeste James
Maulik Joshi, DrPH
Edward J. Kasemeyer
Karen-Ann Lichtenstein
Carol Masden, LCSW-C
Destiny-Simone Ramjohn, PhD
Erica I. Shelton, MD
Ivy Simmons, PhD
 
Mark Luckner, Executive Director
CHRC Call for Proposals Generates 55 Applications Requesting $13.1 million

The FY 2021 Call for Proposals issued by the CHRC earlier this year generated 55 applications requesting $13.1 million in funding. The CHRC is in a position to award $2.7 million to support new grant awards this fiscal year. For a list of applications click here. 
Following a review period, grant awards are expected to be made by the CHRC in late March 2021. 
 
This year's Call for Proposals supports three categories of programs: 
 
(1) Addressing chronic disease prevention and disease management, with particular focus on the prevention and management of diabetes;

(2) Addressing the health and social needs of vulnerable populations disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic; and

(3) Addressing the immediate and longer-term COVID-19 pandemic recovery needs of Maryland’s safety net providers.
CHRC Announcements
The Maryland Council on Advancement of School-Based Health Centers Issues 2020 Annual Report

The Maryland Council on Advancement of School-Based Health Centers, which is staffed by the Commission, has issued its 2020 Annual Report.
Key activities of the Council in 2020 included: 

  • releasing comprehensive recommendations to position SBHCs to be utilized during the COVID-19 crisis and future public health emergencies;
  • working to facilitate telehealth utilization by SBHC practitioners during the COVID-19 crisis and beyond;
  • expanding the types of organizations that can sponsor SBHCs;
  • developing a plan to make data gathered from the annual survey of SBHCs publicly available; and
  • issuing recommendations to integrate SBHCs into the statewide Diabetes Action Plan. 

The annual report also contains demographic information about SBHCs, including the number and location of SBHCs in the state, as well as Council planning for 2021, to include work related to the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccine, telehealth, and funding for SBHCs. To access the annual report, click here.
Grantee News
PROFILES: CHRC Support of the Maryland Diabetes Action Plan Through Diabetes Prevention, Disease Management and Food Security Grants

This is the third in a series of profiles highlighting recent CHRC grants that support the strategic elements of the Maryland Diabetes Plan, which was launched by MDH in 2020 to reduce the burden of diabetes in Maryland. To access the plan click here.

The Plan is a collaborative effort with healthcare partners and community-based organizations to align efforts, resources and funding, and provides recommendations and intervention strategies. In its most recent Call for Proposals, the CHRC prioritized projects that support strategic elements of the Diabetes Action Plan.
Featured Grant

CHRC grant funds are helping My Brother’s Keeper, in partnership with St. Agnes Ascension Health, launch an on-site primary care clinic and medical home for My Brother’s Keeper clients and low-income, underserved and at-risk residents of West Baltimore. The new clinic will provide primary care for the treatment for acute illness and chronic disease, including diabetes and its comorbidities.

Services will be targeted to those who currently access primary and/or urgent care through emergency departments. Clinic patients will be screened for diabetes and prediabetes and will have access to evidence-based lifestyle change programs, Diabetes Self-Management Education and Supports (DSMES), Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT) and the National Diabetes Prevention Program.
 
The grant to My Brother's Keeper is one of 12 grants totaling $2.2 million by the CHRC this year to support programs that will address food insecurity and will help to support implementation of the Maryland Diabetes Action Plan. For more information about CHRC chronic disease management grants, click here.
Other News
The Maryland Department of Health Latest Updates on the COVID-19 Pandemic 
The Maryland Department of Health (MDH) continues to provide daily updates as they become available. To access the MDH coronavirus disease web page, click COVID-19 Maryland.

The site also provides the latest on testing, nursing home cases and contact tracing, click covidLINK for further information. 

In addition, MDH has launched MD COVID Alert, which uses Bluetooth Low Energy technology to quickly notify users who might have been exposed to someone who tested positive for COVID-19 with the goal of reducing infections in Maryland. For more information about the app, click COVID Alert.
Maryland Department of Health Launches a Virtual Live Diabetes Education Series

The Maryland Department of Health (MDH) has launched an eight-part diabetes education series for health care providers and residents with diabetes or those at-risk for diabetes. This webinar series was developed by the MDH Center for Population Health Initiatives as part of Maryland's Diabetes Action Plan and is another tool aimed at preventing and managing diabetes in Maryland. For further information and to register, click here.
January is National Blood Donor Month

January is National Blood Donor Month. A critical need for blood and plasma continues in many areas of the country. For more information, contact the American Red Cross here.