Suma Nair of HRSA's Bureau of Primary Health Care has been named a finalist for a 2022 Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal by the Partnership for Public Service. The prize recognizes excellence in the federal workforce. A nearly 20-year veteran of the agency, Nair is the Director of the BPHC Office of Quality Improvement. She was instrumental in launching an entirely new program that funneled thousands of test kits, masks, and vaccine doses to the nation's most remote, exposed and vulnerable populations during the pandemic.

Please Vote for Suma Nair for the People's Choice Service to America Medal from now until July​ 1​.

May 3 - Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), awarded nearly $25 million to improve and strengthen access to school-based health services in communities across the country. Awards will support local partnerships between schools and health centers to provide children and youth the comprehensive physical and mental health care they need.

“When students are healthy, they are able to learn, grow, and thrive,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. “Our nation’s youth have endured many challenges navigating the COVID-19 pandemic, and we are committed to ensuring they have the support they need. Today we’re investing in school-based health care to meet families where they are and make sure children have easy access to care – including mental health support.”

Read the release.

In April, we announced investments to:

• Support community-based doulas;
• Strengthen home visiting supports for parents, infants, and children;
• Expand our investments in state responses to the maternal mortality crisis;
• Launch the largest investment we’ve ever made in Community Health Worker training; and
• Build new data tools to reduce health disparities through health centers.

We also distributed $1.75 billion in Provider Relief Fund payments, released a Request for Information on ways to strengthen and improve the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, and launched a new Health Equity Fellowship Program.

Read the April Roundup.

Are you a recent graduate looking for a job in the federal government? We are announcing multiple positions within the HRSA Scholars Program, the HRSA Health Equity Fellowship Program, and Recent Graduate opportunities.

All three opportunities are one-year developmental programs for early-career professionals. Participants will grow, train, and prepare for a potential career in the federal government. All participants will receive 40 hours of formal training, an individual development plan, and a mentor.

Learn more and apply on USAJobs.gov by Friday, May 6.

On April 8, we released a Request for Information (RFI) seeking input on ways to strengthen and improve the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) through the upcoming Fiscal Year 2023 Request for Proposal.

As valued stakeholders, we want to make sure you have an opportunity to share your feedback before the RFI closes on Monday, May 9, 1 p.m. ET.

Get details.

Follow us on all our social media platforms to stay up-to-date on our latest program and public health information. Don't forget to share our content and tag us using @HRSAgov.

See our Twitter post about HRSA Administrator Carole Johnson visiting Quincy Jones Elementary School earlier this week to talk about our funding to support school-based health services.

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Join our upcoming webinar on telementoring and health workforce training on Monday, May 9, 3 p.m. ET. We will:

• Highlight the Community Health Workers-Opioid Use Disorder Project ECHO Program.
• Describe how Oklahoma Dementia Care Network is using Project ECHO to train nursing homes in age-friendly and dementia-friendly care.
• Demonstrate the community-based tele-dentistry pilot at New York University College of Dentistry.

This webinar is part of HRSA’s Telehealth Learning Webinar Series. The series’ goal is to highlight successful projects, best practices, and resources to promote and further the use of telehealth technologies for health care delivery, education, and health information services. 

Register for the webinar.

Trying to navigate the role of telehealth? Join health care professionals, policymakers, and industry stakeholders from around the country at the National Telehealth Conference on May 16-17 for the latest information on balancing telehealth solutions and vital in-person services. Register today to learn how others are integrating telehealth into the standard of care.

In observance of National Women’s Health Week (NWHW), our Office of Women’s Health (OWH) and Office of Intergovernmental and External Affairs Region 9 are joining with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to host a webinar on women’s mental health.

This webinar is part of OWH’s Women’s Health Leadership Series, which highlights emerging issues and innovative women’s health practices by and for HRSA-supported and other safety net settings of care. Join us on Thursday, May 19, 3-4 p.m. ET to hear about resources and opportunities around women’s mental health and learn about national policy and stakeholder engagement around maternal mental health care from HRSA-supported settings.

Register here or join the webinar on Thursday, May 19, 3 p.m. ET.

As the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted workforce challenges and longstanding health inequities within the health care and public health systems, interest in developing the CHW workforce has intensified across the country. This Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) blog post outlines how investments in the CHW workforce can help meet the health and social needs of marginalized communities.

HRSA’s National Organizations of State and Local Officials Cooperative Agreement provided support for this ASTHO blog.

Telehealth is frequently touted as a key strategy for improving access to care, but data often show disparities in its use for certain rural and underserved populations. A recent federal report (PDF - 870 KB) found that, despite a 63-fold increase in Medicare telehealth utilization during the pandemic, Black and rural enrollees were less likely to use the service compared with white and urban enrollees, respectively. Other studies found low-income patients were less likely than high-income earners to turn to telehealth.

This National Conference of State Legislatures article highlights why some rural and underserved patients continue to have disparities in use and access to telehealth services.

HRSA’s National Organizations of State and Local Officials Cooperative Agreement provided support for this NCSL article.