April HealthConnect Updates

Each month, the HealthConnect team provides important updates about the hub. This month’s HealthConnect bulletin includes important news about the Apple Health Public Health Information and the future of CareConnect WA.

• At the national level: The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is planning for the federal Public Health Emergency (PHE) for COVID-19, declared under Section 319 of the Public Health Service (PHS) Act, to expire at the end of the day on May 11, 2023.

• At the Washington State Level: The Department of Health will continue to fund Care Connect WA to provide Household Assistance Requests (HARs) and Groceries for people with COVID who need to quarantine and isolate at home, but under different guidelines. New guidelines after May 11th are that grocery support will cover up to five days (instead of 10 days), and Household Assistance Requests (HARs) will cover no more than $1000 (instead of $1500). Additionally, only households that have not previously received support from Care Connect WA will be eligible for support after May 11th.

• HealthConnect has partnered with DOH and YMCA to offer an in-person training opportunity in Clark and Skamania counties. The training will be an all-day event, with lunch provided, on Motivational Interviewing and Cardiovascular Health – Taking Accurate Blood Pressure. The training in Skamania County will be on May 22nd, and the training in Clark County will be on June 12th. Registration info will be sent out on April 27th.

• SWACH CBW Sponsorship Committee is supporting selected applicants of CBWs to attend a professional development opportunity of their choice. Award letters have been sent to support individual (local) opportunities, individual (non-local) opportunities, and a group-led opportunity to NACHW – 2023 Unity Conference in August. There will be a second application window in early June for the remaining spots.