The Health Resources and Services Administration's (HRSA) Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) has released a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for a new Rural Communities Opioid Response Program (RCORP) initiative called RCORP-Medication-Assisted Treatment Expansion (HRSA-19-102). HRSA plans to invest approximately $8 million in rural communities as part of this funding opportunity.

Successful RCORP-Medication-Assisted Treatment Expansion (MAT Expansion) award recipients will receive up to $725,000 for a three-year period of performance to establish or expand medication-assisted treatment (MAT) in eligible hospitals, health clinics, or tribal organizations located in high-risk rural communities.

Read the press release.

HRSAs HIV/AIDS Bureau (HAB) has revised Policy Clarification Notice (PCN) 13-02 Clarifications on Ryan White Program Client Eligibility Determinations and Recertifications Requirements(PDF - 37 KB) to include clarifications on rapid eligibility determinations. HRSA HAB also posted a new dear colleague letter(PDF - 170 KB) today that provides background on the importance in being able to quickly identify people living with HIV who are eligible to receive HRSA Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (RWHAP) services. HRSA RWHAP recipients should contact their HRSA HAB project officers with any questions about the additional clarifications provided in PCN 13-02 or the dear colleague letter.

Deputy Administrator Brian LeClair welcomed grantees from 40 States, Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands to two days of workshops on how to maintain "healthy grants."

Said LeClair: "We jump at the opportunity to visit with the people who are on the front lines ... to improve the health of the nation."

Read more about the grantees visit to HRSA.

Tweet with us during Mental Health Month as we discuss the importance of Integrating Behavioral Health into Primary Care Settings. Learn the latest best practices, provider tips, tools, and more.

Participation is easy:

• Join us on the @HRSAgov Twitter page May 22 at 3:00 p.m. EDT.
• Follow us if you havent already.
• Tweet your questions and include our #BHealthy hashtag to participate in the chat.

Apply now to become a National Health Service Corps (NHSC) approved site. Eligible primary health care sites include health care facilities that provide outpatient, ambulatory and primary health care services (medical, dental, and behavioral health) to people living in high-need urban and rural areas. Sites providing general substance use disorder (SUD) Treatment, a Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) Program or an Opioid Treatment Program (OTP) are also eligible to apply.

Applications are due May 30.

Learn more about the NHSC new site application.

Renowned gynecologic oncologist Dr. Groesbeck Parham will visit HRSA to present strategies for improving access to care for cervical and breast cancer early detection and treatment. He will discuss how these strategies, with the use of technology and task-shifting, may be applied to gynecological practices in the U.S.

Monday, May 13
10:30 a.m. - Noon EDT
Join the webcast the day of the session

Dr. Parhams expertise is concentrated on the link between HIV/AIDS and cervical cancer in Zambia, Africa. His work on scaling up public sector cervical and breast cancer services in resource-poor global environments has been sought by the World Health Organization and United Nations Population Fund.

The 20th annual National Women's Health Week kicks off on Mother's Day, May 12. This years theme, Find Your Healthempowers women to make their health a top priority and take simple, steps to embrace healthier lifestyles.

Take charge of your health and visit a HRSA-funded health center in your community. Download the womens health infographic(PDF - 344 KB) and learn how HRSA delivers critical health services for women.

HRSA is hosting a Maternal Mortality Webinar on Wednesday, May 15 from 1:00 2:30 p.m. EDT.

This event is a collaboration between HRSA's Office of Regional Operations (Regions 5 and 7), Maternal and Child Health Bureau, Office of Womens Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Illinois Department of Public Health. Presenters will discuss ongoing federal and state initiatives to address maternal mortality, clinical research, and resources to improve maternal mortality rates. Register to attend. Contact Amanda Walrup for questions.

Part of our Telehealth Learning Webinar Series, this webinar will discuss:

• Reducing oral health disparities in rural communities through dental therapy and telehealth innovations such as the Childrens Dental Services Experience.
• The methodology and results of the Virtual Dental Home system developed in California and now deployed in multiple states.

The webinar is May 2, 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. EDT. Register today. Contact Nancy Rios for questions.

Learn more about telehealth.

In recognition of Hepatitis Awareness Month (May) and Hepatitis Testing Day (May 19), HRSA will host HEP Talks. Like TED Talks, these will be condensed and informative presentations focused on emerging and important viral hepatitis topics. Each session features a brief talk by a viral hepatitis expert followed by an opportunity for discussion and questions. Visit the Health Center Program Technical Assistance Calendar for session descriptions and access information.

• Hepatitis B Testing May 2 3:30-4:15 p.m. EDT
• Hepatitis C and the Opioid Epidemic May 16 3:00-3:45 p.m. EDT
• Hepatitis C and the Cure May 23 3:30-4:15 p.m. EDT
• Hepatitis B and Perinatal Transmission May 30 3:00-3:45 p.m. EDT

Dr. Luis Padilla -- Associate Administrator of the Bureau of Health Workforce -- welcomed officials from 30 states on April 9 for a forum on the National Practitioner Data Bank. Authorized by President Reagan as a patient-safety check, the system today processes a background query every four seconds.

"From state licensing boards to hospital administrators and medical malpractice payers, the wide range of stakeholders who are here is quite impressive ...The information in HRSA's NPDB protects our nation against health care malpractice, waste, fraud and abuse. Everyone here today plays a critical role in this effort, as (BHW) processed over 8.4 million queries last year."

Learn more about the National Practitioner Data Bank.

More than 800 maternal and child health leaders, epidemiologists, researchers and parent representatives meeting last month in San Antonio received a resounding call to action from Dr. Michael Warren -- Associate Administrator of HRSA's Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) -- on common sense measures to save children's lives, and the lives of their mothers.

"We can look at (the) challenges and feel hopeless," Warren said. "But I hope that instead, you feel on fire."

"Just in the last 36 years alone, we've cut the national infant mortality rate by about half -- from 11.9 in 1981 to 5.8 in 2017," he said at the 2019 Association of Maternal Child Health Programs Conference. "That's noteworthy. And it's still not enough.

Read more about Dr. Warren's call to action.

The prevalence of cancer, heart disease and stroke -- the three leading causes of death in the United States -- is lower among Hispanic Americans than their risk factors might suggest, and generally better than rates within other minority populations, an NIH expert said April 11.

Speaking before HRSA's Hispanic Employee Resource Group, Dr. Eliseo J. Prez-Stable called the incongruity "an epidemiologic paradox."

Read more about the findings Dr.Prez-Stable shared.