Heroes in Action: COVID 19 Vaccination Administration
Efforts by Community Health Centers
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Yvette McLaurin, FNP, G.A Carmichael Family Health Center in Canton, MS, administers a COVID-19 vaccine to a homebound patient. (photo, left)
When Annie Greenwood called G.A. Carmichael Family Health Center she explained that her sister, Shelly Greenwood, was homebound and had no way to get to the clinic for a COVID-19 vaccine. When Shelly learned that someone would come to her home to administer the vaccine, she began to cry with gratitude over the phone. Just one of the many ways health centers are extending borders to care for hard-to-reach patients during COVID.
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CHCs are providing COVID-19 vaccinations in clinics across the state, but many are taking the vaccines into the communities to increase access.
Photo above: Delta Health Center partners with a local church to provide vaccines.
Photo top right: ACCESS Family Health Center provides COVID-19 vaccinations to the community at the West Amory Community Center.
Photo bottom right: Mallory Community Health Center has been taking its mobile unit to communities to provide additional access to the COVID-19 vaccine to more Mississippians.
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Photo on left: Centenarian Ms. Sallie Kimbrough receives her first COVID-19 vaccine at Benton Medical Center, part of the North Miss. Primary Health Care network.
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Photo left: Coastal Family Health Center brings COVID-19 vaccine to workers at Eubanks Farms. Alan Eubanks, the farm owner, gave the CFHC staff working the event some strawberries grown there as a thank you. |
Please share your vaccination photos on social media with the hashtag #ALLINTogetherMS. Also please share with the CHCAMS by emailing here.
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Governor appoints Jackson Hinds Comprehensive Health Services CEO Dr. Chapman to DOM Advisory Committee |
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Dr. Jasmin Chapman, CEO of Jackson Hinds Comprehensive Health Services has been appointed by Gov. Tate Reeves to the Mississippi Division of Medicaid’s Medical Care Advisory Committee. The appointment runs concurrently with the Governor’s term of office. Congratulations
Dr. Chapman!
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Health Center CEO Featured in Regional Business Journal
Delta Health Center CEO John Fairman was recently featured in The Delta Business Journal magazine cover story. The article can be accessed here.
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Dr. McNair Featured in The New York Times Article about the
COVID-19 Vaccine in Mississippi
Dr. Obie McNair of Central Miss. Health Services was featured in a story in The New York Times about Mississippi and the COVID-19 vaccine. The article can be accessed here.
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Apply to Become a
National Health Service Corps Site and Increase Your Health Center's Provider Recruitment Potential
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NHSC Site Applications
accepted through
Tuesday, May 25, 2021
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Wednesday, April 14 | 1-2 p.m. CDT
Dial: 833-568-8864
Meeting ID: 160 522 3154
Passcode: 97291233
Link here to the Zoom meeting |
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Click here for more information.
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Take Action for Health Center Discretionary Funding
Community Health Centers (CHCs) have shown their immense value in medically underserved communities by stepping up throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and offering preventative care and safety. This work is being recognized across the nation by the media, Members of Congress, and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Congress has passed bills that provide for the three years of mandatory funding and emergency funding. However, CHCs' innovative work requires ongoing funding now being considered in Congress.
Record-level discretionary (annual) funding has bipartisan support on the Hill.
Let’s make sure that CHCs’ can expand capacity and plan for future innovation with the proposed $2.2 billion in discretionary funding.
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Registration Coming
May 1, 2021
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Please save these dates for upcoming sessions with Jim Macrae
1-2p.m. CDT
Thursday, April 15
Tuesday, May 4
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COVID-19 Public Health Emergency
Most of The Division of Medicaid's emergency services in response to the COVID-19 pandemic – including our enhanced FMAP – are authorized by the federal Public Health Emergency (PHE), which was extended several times throughout the 2020 calendar year. Most recently, the PHE had been set to expire on Jan. 21, 2021.
Recently, the Secretary of Health and Human Services
announced that the PHE would remain in effect for at least an additional 90 days.
Furthermore, HHS advised that the PHE would likely remain in place for the entire 2021 calendar year. To mitigate against uncertainty and promote stability for Medicaid programs, HHS will provide states with a 60-day notice before the termination of the PHE whenever that decision is ultimately made.
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Emergency Broadband Benefit
Launching Soon
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) launched a new Emergency Broadband Benefit resource. The tool allows partners and consumers to view by state or territory the providers that will be participating in the Emergency Broadband Benefit program, which will provide discounts for those who qualify. Each listing includes the type of service offered, whether it’s “fixed” or “mobile”, and whether the provider offers connected devices as part of the program. Health Centers are encouraged to become partners in promoting this program to its patients and communities. The list of providers participating in the program is here. |
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Region IV Public Health Training Center Upcoming Learning o\Opportunity:
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All Health Centers Now Eligible to Receive National Vaccine Distribution
HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra announced today that all HRSA-funded health centers and Health Center Program look-alikes (LALs) will now be invited to participate in the Health Center COVID-19 Vaccine Program. These health centers will have the opportunity to join the program as soon as they are ready, increasing the total number of health centers that have been invited to 1,470 nationwide. Read more in this press release.
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Missisippi Medicaid Web Portal Reminder
For easy access to up-to-date information, providers are encouraged to use the Mississippi Envision Web Portal. The Web Portal is the electronic approach to rapid, efficient information exchange with providers, including eligibility verification, claim submission, electronic report retrieval, and the latest updates to provider information. The Mississippi Envision Web Portal is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year via the Internet at www.ms-medicaid.com.
For more news, access the March 2021 edition of the Mississippi Division of Medicaid's Provider Bulletin here.
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CHCAMS COVID-19 Clearinghouse.
Click here to request access.
For those who missed the live discussions, recordings of the meetings are now available at the CHCAMS COVID-19 Clearinghouse.
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Vaccine Champions Group
Next Meeting Thursday,
April 15, 2021
3:30 p.m.
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Combating Pandemic Pounds and Coronavirus Carbs Series on the CHCAMS YouTube channel. Subscribe here.
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Dentists Eligible to Give COVID-19 Vaccines
Mississippi dentists interested in becoming a COVID-19 vaccine provider can go to the Mississippi Department of Health link here for further information and enroll or call
1-800-740-9889.
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To sign up for the Wednesday weekly training newsletter, please contact Desiree Stinson.
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Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training (BHWET) Program for Paraprofessionals
The BHWET Program for Paraprofessionals develops and expands community-based experiential training to increase the supply of students preparing to become peer support specialists and other behavioral health-related paraprofessionals while also improving distribution of a quality behavioral health workforce.
A special focus is placed on the knowledge and understanding of the specific concerns of children, adolescents, and transitional-aged youth in high need and high demand areas at risk for behavioral health disorders. More information can be found here.
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Direct Relief Awarding $10 Million to FQHCs Participating in Federal HRSA/CDC Vaccine Program
Direct Relief is making $50,000 operational grants to assist with costs associated with administering the vaccine for patients in communities across America for those FQHCs that have been confirmed in the HRSA/CDC program.
This grant can be used for any expenses connected with COVID-19 vaccination efforts. Reporting requirements are minimal, and the application is very simple.
This grant fund is limited to the first 200 FQHCs whose applications are submitted and approved by Direct Relief. The link to the grant application can be found here.
If you have any questions, please contact Leighton Jones, Director of Emergency Response and New Initiatives at ljones@directrelief.org.
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Advancing Health Literacy to Enhance Equitable Community Responses to COVID-19 Grant Opportunity
HHS is accepting grant applications to promote health literacy in underserved communities. Health Centers can partner with cities, municipalities, or local government entities to take part. The maximum award is $4 million. The closing date is April 20, 2021. Read more about the opportunity here.
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Sites Funding
HRSA released the fiscal year (FY) 2021 Health Center Program Service Expansion – School-Based Service Sites (SBSS, HRSA-21-093) Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO). Technical assistance (TA) resources, including a webinar overview of the NOFO, are available on the SBSS TA webpage.
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Grants with ongoing deadlines can be found here .
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