News and Updates
Health Center Quality Improvement Grant Awards
Thirteen Utah Health Centers were awarded funding for the quality, efficiency, and value of the healthcare services offered to their communities in a ceremony yesterday at Fourth Street Clinic. Nick Zucconi, Regional Administrator at Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) was in Salt Lake City on Tuesday to present Fourth Street Clinic with the Health Center Quality Leader Award. According to Zucconi, “Health centers provide affordable, high-quality, comprehensive services that directly impact the overall healthcare…
Health Center Week in Utah
Governor Gary Herbert has declared August 12 – 18, 2018 as Health Center Week in Utah! The week is part of a national event celebrating the work of Health Centers throughout the U.S. Utah’s 13 Health Center organizations serve over 151,000 Utahns annually at 58 clinics located across the state - from Cache Valley to the Four Corners area and St. George. Health Centers focus on providing high-quality primary and preventative care, and treatment of…
The Role of Community Health Centers in Addressing the Opioid Epidemic
Community health centers are on the front lines of addressing the opioid epidemic, which affected two million Americans and resulted in 42,249 opioid overdose deaths in 2016.1 Health centers are located in medically underserved rural and urban areas, where the impact of the opioid epidemic has been especially devastating. As providers of comprehensive primary care services, they are increasingly meeting the treatment needs of their patients with substance use disorders (SUD), including those with OUD. The…
Celebrating National Health Center Week
August 12th - 18th, 2018 is National Health Center Week. Is your Health Center planning any activities to celebrate? AUCH would love to help you host an event by assisting with planning, marketing, coordinating with elected officials and the press, or by simply getting the word out! Please free free to contact Barbara for any questions about National Health Center Week. NACHC has provided a number of fantastic ideas for your CHC to consider: Show…
Extending Thanks to Utah Members of Congress
On March 15, 2018, leaders from CHC, Inc., Family Healthcare, Midtown, Mountainlands, Utah Partners for Health, and the Utah Navajo Health System traveled to Washington D.C. with AUCH’s Executive Director, Alan Pruhs, to meet with members of Utah’s congressional delegation. The goals of the visits were to discuss the incredible work of Health Centers in Utah and thank Utah’s delegation for their support of the Health Center Program. The visits were conducted in conjunction with…
Health Center Quality Certificates Awarded
Health Center Quality Certificates As part of HRSA’s commitment to recognize health centers as quality leaders, HRSA recently delivered Health Center Quality certificates to the 47 National Quality Leaders and 393 Health Center Quality Leaders. This effort follows the August 2017 Quality Improvement Awards of nearly $105 million to 1,333 health centers to recognize the highest performing health centers nationwide, as well as those health centers that have made significant quality improvement gains. Learn more…
NACHC Statement Regarding Funding for Community Health Centers
On behalf of the nation’s nearly 1400 health centers and the 27 million patients they serve, the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) wants to express our sincere appreciation for the $7.8 billion dollars in federal grant funding for the Community Health Center program that was included in the bipartisan budget deal passed by Congress early this morning. We are especially appreciative that Congress recognized the growing value of health centers by including an…
January is Cervical Health Awareness Month
Each year about 12,000 women in the United States are diagnosed with cervical cancer. Two screening tests (Pap test and HPV test) can help prevent cervical cancer or find it early. More than 1.9 million patients received Pap tests at HRSA-funded health centers in 2016. Learn more about best practices for screening and preventing cervical cancer in these resources: View a recent HRSA webinar about Cancer Screening Promising Practices in Primary Care Associations Access the…
BIG NEWS: HRSA’s New Health Center Program Compliance Manual is Here!
In August 2017, HRSA finally published its long-awaited Health Center Program Compliance Manual. This new Manual clearly spells out Health Center Program Requirements, and, by doing so, replaces several Policy Information Notices (PINs) and Program Assistance Letters (PALs). The Manual explains why each Program Requirement is legally required, what a Health Center has to do to meet the requirement, and where a Health Center has flexibility in areas related to the requirement. The information in…
November is Diabetes Awareness Month
Focusing on Diabetes Prevention A 2017 report from the CDC shows that: More than 30 million U.S. adults have diabetes, and 24% don't know they have it. About 84 million U.S. adults (more than a third) had prediabetes in 2015, and 88% didn't know. The CDC also reports that people with prediabetes who take part in a structured lifestyle change program can cut the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by as much as 58%.…
AUCH Executive Director Recognized for Advocacy Work
AUCH Exectiver Director, Alan Pruhs, was recognized at the CHAMPS Board of Directors meeting on Sunday, October 22 as the Outstanding Advocate of the Underserved for 2017. Alan was recognized along with Eileen Flaherty, FNP for the Stanley J. Brasher Legacy Award; Linda Hughes for the Exceptional Board Leadership Award; Rebecca McCay for the Exceptional Administrative Leadership Award; David Pump for the Outstanding Legislative Leadership Award; and Ricardo Velasquez, MD for the Exceptional Clinical Leadership Award. Thank you to CHAMPS for…