HealthConnect August Updates
As part of our monthly bulletin, we regularly provide updates about HealthConnect. Read August’s updates below.
The Health Care Authority (the state agency that first funded SWACH and the HealthConnect Hub) has submitted a proposal for five additional years of federal funding for the Medicaid Transformation Project (MTP). If approved, this proposal will continue to support the community-based workforce, community hubs across Washington state (like HealthConnect), and support for health-related social needs (HRSN). This funding would allow us to continue to advance health equity in our community.
The recognition of HealthConnect partner Community-Based Workers (many of you) and your successful work supporting our community members helped inspire the HCA decision to prioritize these important areas in their application.HealthConnect will fund 10-20 sponsorships to support professional development opportunities for Community-Based Workers to attend trainings and/or conferences of their choosing.
The HRSA grant program* completed its first year of funding and CBWs across 6 agencies successfully engaged and supported thousands of people to learn about, and access, the COVID-19 vaccine. Between January -June 2022 CBWs have reached 62,409 community members though various outreach and education interactions and facilitated the delivery of 441 doses of vaccine across Clark, Skamania, and Klickitat counties.
Brandi Williams has a new leadership role with HealthConnect in the position of Community Based Workforce Specialist and will lead professional development efforts and be a resource to support Community-Based Workers across the SWACH region.
*This project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of an award totaling $1 million with 0 percentage financed with non-governmental sources. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by HRSA, HHS, or the U.S. Government. For more information, please visit HRSA.gov.
We are grateful to Amerigroup Washington and Molina Health Care for their additional support and sponsorship of the HRSA grant outreach efforts.
