On Thursday, August 29, HRSA announced that for the first time in the 40-year history of the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN), the OPTN Board of Directors—the governing board that develops national organ allocation policy—is now separately incorporated and independent from the Board of long-time OPTN contractor, the United Network for Organ Sharing. HRSA has awarded an OPTN Board Support contract to American Institutes for Research to support the newly incorporated OPTN Board of Directors. 

These critical actions to better serve patients by breaking up the monopoly that ran the nation’s organ allocation system are part of the OPTN modernization plan announced by HRSA in March 2023. Prior to these steps, the national body responsible for developing organ allocation policy for the country—the OPTN—and the corporate entity contracted to implement the policy—UNOS—shared the exact same Board of Directors. The new board support contractor will be accountable to HRSA and will organize a special election for a new OPTN Board of Directors with a focus on eliminating conflicts of interest and ensuring that data, evidence, and the voices of clinical leaders, scientific experts, patients, and donor families are driving action and accountability. Moving forward, no member of the OPTN Board can sit on an OPTN vendor’s board of directors.

Read the release.

At the fourth annual Black Maternal Health Caucus 2024 Stakeholder Summit organized by Representative Lauren Underwood (IL-14) and Representative Alma Adams (NC-12), Administrator Carole Johnson highlighted HRSA’s collaborative work to fund maternal health research, maternal depression screening and treatment, birth center expansions, and the National Maternal Mental Health Hotline (1-833-TLC-MAMA). 
The summit highlighted recent federal progress to improve maternal health outcomes, provide trainings on how to access federal funding secured by the Caucus and other resources, and help build partnerships and strategies to address the maternal health crisis in the United States.

The 2025 National Health Service Corps (NHSC) Students to Service Loan Repayment Program application cycle is now open!

Final-year students studying to become a physician (MD/DO), dentist (DDS/DMD), physician assistant (PA), nurse practitioner (NP), or certified nurse midwife (CNM) may be eligible for awards of up to $120,000.

An additional $40,000 supplement is available to physician and nurse midwife final-year students who commit to providing OB/GYN services in high-need areas.  Applications are due Thursday, November 7, 7:30 p.m. ET.

Find out more about the NHSC Students to Service Loan Repayment Program and how to apply.

Calling all mission-driven medical and dental students: Find your next residency and training opportunity! Join HRSA on Wednesday, September 25, 6 p.m. ET. to learn about the Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education Program and the available opportunities to advance your career.
Attendees will be able to network with recruiters from Teaching Health Centers across the nation.

Register.

A Healthy Mouth for Every Body, led by HRSA’s Office of Special Health Initiatives, aims to raise awareness about the connection between oral health and overall health.

Learn how HRSA programs help train oral health care providers, place providers in rural areas, and make it easier for people to find oral health care. The Educational and Promotional Resources page has been updated to include new print and downloadable materials, video and radio public service announcements, and drop-in content to include in your organization’s emails and social media feeds.

Explore A Healthy Mouth for Every Body Educational and Promotional Resources.

From August 24 - 26, HRSA leaders were featured speakers at the National Association of Community Health Centers’ 2024 Community Health Institute & Expo Conference.

Bureau of Primary Health Care (BPHC) Deputy Associate Administrator Tonya Bowers, Bureau of Health Workforce Acting Associate Administrator Dr. Candice Chen, and Office of Pharmacy Affairs Director Chantelle Britton praised health centers for their work. They, and other HRSA speakers, highlighted the critical role health centers play in increasing health care access in underserved communities. BPHC leaders presented on these important topics:

• Customer Experience (CX): BPHC’s goal is to provide an exceptional experience every time for their customers. To that end, BPHC held stakeholder listening sessions to hear from health center staff about what is working, or not. This input will inform BPHC’s continuous improvement efforts.
• UDS+ Reporting: For 2023 Uniform Data System (UDS) reporting, nearly 300 health centers participated in voluntary submission of patient-level (UDS+) data. For 2024 reporting, all health centers must submit UDS+ data at a minimum for their medical patients. Presenters discussed that minimum requirement in detail.
• Hypertension Control Initiative: BPHC’s new Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Asad Bandealy, described the achievements of health centers that received fiscal year 2021 Supplemental Funding for Hypertension (NHCI-HC). Using NHCI funds and technical assistance from HRSA, these 133 health centers collectively improved hypertension control among their patients by an impressive 30 percentage points — from just 29% in mid-2022 to 59% at the end of 2023.

Check out HRSA’s new website about the history of the Health Center Program and the people who made it happen. It provides an overview of the program’s rich and eventful history over the course of six decades.

From two neighborhood health centers founded in the 1960s, the Health Center Program has grown to approximately 1,400 health centers that operate more than 15,500 service sites in all U.S. states, territories, and the District of Columbia. Health centers are a key part of the nation’s health care system, serving more than 31 million people in 2023.

You can also download the full report.

September is Gynecologic Cancer Awareness Month. Cervical cancer is a preventable disease. HRSA and the Federal Cervical Cancer Collaborative (FCCC) have a toolkit to help providers improve cervical cancer prevention, screening, and management, particularly for communities that have lower rates of screening.

Download the Toolkit to Build Provider Capacity in safety-net settings of care.

This Newborn Screening Awareness Month, visit HRSA’s Newborn Screening Information Center for the latest resources. Our newly updated site has information for both healthcare providers and families. This includes a step-by-step breakdown of the newborn screening process, a description of conditions screened, and links to external support organizations to help families navigate the newborn screening process. All information is available in both English and Spanish.