The CDC Office of Rural Health is creating awareness of a new four-part documentary series that was made possible by Bloomberg Philanthropies and is available for streaming on PBS.org and the PBS App.  This series, The Invisible Shield, includes discussions on many important topics, including public health infrastructure, public health data, health equity, and more.

The fourth episode in the series may be of particular interest, as it explores the societal roots of many health problems and discusses the challenges faced by a rural community in Washington State as they work to prevent “deaths of despair,” such as those due to opioid overdose and suicides.

Please note that this is being forwarded for informational purposes only and such dissemination should not imply any endorsement by CDC or the appearance of such, of the creator and distributor, PBS, the series itself, the content contained therein, or the views, products, services, or organizations referenced in the broadcast.

The $20 million Digital Connectivity Technology Program, which will distribute laptops to community institutions to help connect Pennsylvanians who lack digital technology, will accept applications beginning June 20 through August 19.

The Shapiro Administration is committed to closing the digital divide in the Commonwealth.

The Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority (PBDA) Executive Director Brandon Carson announced that the application period for the new Digital Connectivity Technology Program will be open beginning Thursday, June 20 through Monday, August 19, 2024. Online applications can be made through the PBDA website starting June 20.

Through the new program, the PBDA will purchase and distribute $20 million in laptops for eligible public-facing institutions such as libraries, municipalities, workforce training organizations, not-for-profit organizations, and other community anchor institutions located in areas where affordability has been identified as a barrier to broadband adoption and use who will then make them available to individuals who lack the technology needed to access the internet.

The PBDA will begin reviewing Digital Connectivity Technology Program applications on August 20 and anticipates announcing the grant awards in November. Projects are expected to begin in early 2025. Grant recipients are required to make digital skills training available through their own program or the free options on the PBDA website, however end users are not required to participate in a training program.

“We are working hard to provide the resources Pennsylvanians need to make ‘internet for all’ a reality across the Commonwealth,” said Executive Director Brandon Carson. “The Digital Connectivity Technology Program will provide libraries and other community institutions with the technology required to give Pennsylvanians the internet access they need to have better health, education, and economic outcomes.”

Across Pennsylvania there are currently 286,000 households, businesses, schools, and libraries that either have no access or insufficient access to broadband. The funding for the Digital Connectivity Technology Program was made available through the American Rescue Plan Capital Projects Funding, announced by the PBDA in March 2024.

Through the federal Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program the Commonwealth will receive more than $1.16 billion in federal funding to expand broadband in unserved and underserved areas to make sure every Pennsylvanian has access to affordable, high-speed internet. In May, the PBDA received federal approval of its Volume II BEAD Initial Proposal, an important step forward in Pennsylvania’s efforts to invest $1.16 billion in federal funding. The Volume II BEAD Initial Proposal outlines the Commonwealth’s plan to expand internet service for unserved and underserved Pennsylvanians.

In addition to the Digital Connectivity Technology Program and BEAD funding, the Commonwealth also received:

• $204 million in funding through the Capital Projects Fund Broadband Infrastructure Program to connect unserved/underserved areas, and
• $45 million through the Multi-Purpose Community Facilities Program for community projects to construct, acquire, or improve facilities that are open to the public and will directly enable work, education, and health monitoring.

These significant investments are providing the Shapiro Administration with the resources it needs to connect Pennsylvanians to the internet and ensure that no matter where they live across the Commonwealth, they can go to school, start and grow businesses, and access telemedicine.

For a detailed look at the Digital Connectivity Technology Program, please view this helpful program overview and this video presentation.

Visit the Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority’s website to learn more about its work to close the digital divide in the Commonwealth.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Office of Minority Health (CMS OMH) is proud to celebrate the 10^th anniversary of our Coverage to Care (C2C) initiative. Since its inception, the initiative has helped people understand their health coverage and connect to the primary care and preventive services that are right for them, so they can live a long and healthy life.

To ensure that people are aware of these benefits, C2C has released a suite of resources – available in as many as 9 languages – designed to help people navigate their coverage, access care, receive preventive care, and manage their chronic conditions. C2C’s original resource, the Roadmap to Better Care, has also been updated over the past decade to better help people navigate the evolving health coverage landscape.

Community Partners

C2C began as a grassroots effort, relying on our trusted community partners to directly reach those they serve. It is because of the efforts of navigators, libraries, and others like these around the country, that C2C has been able to have such a lasting impact across the U.S.

Over the last decade, C2C resources:

• Have been distributed to every state and zip code, and
• Ordered more than 1 million times, including the Roadmap to Better Care.

Through our Community Connections Tour, we have collaborated with local organizations across the country to help educate people about getting the most out of their health coverage. C2C has participated in events across the country at local health fairs, community events, virtual webinars, and train the trainers, and looks forward to continuing this work with you.

Stay Up to Date with C2C

From our newest resource to the latest community events, stay in touch:

• Subscribe to our listserv
• Email us at CoverageToCare@cms.hhs.gov
• Visit our website, https://go.cms.gov/c2c

As we celebrate a decade of C2C, we also look forward to how the program will continue to develop over the next decade and beyond.

Crystal Hiwalker wonders if her heart and lungs would have kept working if the ambulance crew had been able to give her a transfusion as the blood drained from her body during a stormy, 100-mile ride

Because of the 2019 snowstorm, it took 2.5 hours to drive from her small town of Lame Deer, Montana, to the advanced trauma center in Billings.

Doctors at the Billings Clinic hospital revived Hiwalker and stopped the bleeding from her ruptured ectopic pregnancy. They were shocked that she not only survived after her heart stopped beating and she lost nearly all her blood, but that she recovered without brain damage.

The Montana State Trauma Care Committee, which works to reduce trauma incidents and to improve care, later realized the ambulance that carried Hiwalker had passed near two hospitals that stocked blood. What if Hiwalker had access to that blood on her way to Billings, committee members asked.

That realization, and question, inspired committee members to create the Montana Interfacility Blood Network, which they say is the first program of its kind in the U.S. The network allows ambulance crews to pick up blood from hospitals and transfuse it to patients on the way to the advanced care they need.

“We kind of came up with the idea of having a blood handoff — like driving through a fast-food restaurant drive-thru — and picking up blood on the way,” said Gordon Riha, a trauma surgeon at the Billings Clinic trauma center, where Hiwalker was treated. Riha said timely blood transfusions can prevent death or permanent brain injury.

Read more.

The White House announced their collaborative efforts with Microsoft and Google that will provide a range of free or discounted cybersecurity services to rural hospitals across the country to help them in their efforts to prevent cyberattacks.

Microsoft has committed to working in close collaboration with The White House, the National  Rural Health Association (NRHA), and the American Hospital Association (AHA) to coordinate the rollout, adoption and effectiveness of the program.

“Rural hospitals face a unique challenge in cybersecurity, balancing limited resources with the increasing sophistication of cyberthreats, which puts patient data and critical healthcare infrastructure at risk,” said Alan Morgan, chief executive officer of NRHA. “This important partnership with Microsoft will help ensure that rural hospitals are prepared in the future to meet this rising threat in small rural facilities.”

As part of this initiative to improve security and resilience of our rural hospital system, these private sector partners have committed to the following:

• For independent Critical Access Hospitals and Rural Emergency Hospitals, Microsoft is extending its nonprofit program to provide grants and up to a 75% discount on security products optimized for smaller organizations.
• For participating larger rural hospitals already using eligible Microsoft solutions, Microsoft is providing its most advanced security suite at no additional cost for one year. Additionally, Microsoft will extend security updates for Window 10 to participating hospitals for one year at no cost.
• Microsoft will also provide free cybersecurity assessments by qualified technology security providers and free training for frontline and IT staff at eligible rural hospitals throughout the country to deepen our resiliency to malicious cyberattacks.
• Google will provide endpoint security advice to rural hospitals and non-profit organizations at no cost, and eligible customers can get discounted pricing for communication and collaboration tools and security support and a pool of funding to support software migration.
• In addition, Google is committing to launch a pilot program with rural hospitals to develop a packaging of security capabilities that fit these hospitals’ unique needs.

Learn more.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), awarded more than $11 million to 15 organizations to establish new residency programs in rural communities. HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra and White House Domestic Policy Advisor Neera Tanden announced the new awards while visiting rural health clinic in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin today. Building on HRSA’s Enhancing Maternal Health Initiative, one program will create the first obstetrics and gynecology Rural Track Program in the country, and six others will develop new family medicine residency programs with enhanced obstetrical training in rural communities.

“Every American should have access to high-quality health care no matter where they live. That is why HHS is investing in programs that improve and expand access in geographic areas that have historically been underserved,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. “Training more doctors in our country’s rural areas is a proven strategy to recruit and retain doctors to serve rural communities. By funding new residency programs focused on OB-GYN training, we can help eliminate maternal care deserts, an important step in making pregnancy and childbirth safer.

“Rural communities need physicians, and the Health Resources and Services Administration is committed to helping build this workforce through steps like our work to create rural residency programs,” said HRSA Administrator Carole Johnson. “This funding will help build pathways for rural students to become doctors and help rural communities recruit and train more doctors. We are particularly pleased to support new programs aimed at training new physicians to care for pregnant women.”

Retaining and recruiting physicians in underserved and rural areas is a critical priority of the Biden-Harris Administration. These awards build on nearly $54 million that HRSA has invested in the Rural Residency Planning and Development Program (RRPD) since 2019. Past recipients of RRPD awards have created 46 accredited rural residency programs and have been approved to train 575 resident physicians overall. In this year’s 2024 Residency Match, RRPD-created residency programs matched 158 new residents who will start training this summer.

Award recipients will each receive up to $750,000 over three years to establish new rural residency programs. They will use this funding to support accreditation costs, curriculum development, faculty recruitment and retention, resident recruitment activities, and consultation services for program development. Many of today’s awardees will implement a Rural Track Program, which makes it possible for residency programs to provide their residents with experience in rural settings and increase access to health care in rural areas.

Access the list of awardees here.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) released updated data on Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs). In addition, they updated the number of additional dental health practitioners needed to support the HPSAs. The number of HPSAs has grown nationwide since February. The updated data are available on the HPSA dashboard.

Click here for more information and to view the dashboard.