During a Technical Assistance Call on November 6, 2001, grantees were asked to submit examples of effective emergency and bioterrorism response plans to the Bureau of Primary Health Care (BPHC). There is particular interest in plans relevant to rural and semi-rural areas. If you have knowledge of such a plan, please send information to Audrey Smolkin at asmolkin@hrsa.gov so that she may forward it as appropriate. We will honor requests for confidentiality. The BPHC hopes to eventually compile a set of appropriate examples for distribution.

In response to increased call volume following the September 11th attacks, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) has established a toll-free Public Response Hotline to answer public questions and concerns. All English-speaking residents may now call 888-246-2675 for public health and safety information. Spanish speakers can call 888-246-2857. The CDC hopes the new lines will make important information more accessible to a greater number of people.

Public callers should be referred to these numbers from now on as a useful resource for obtaining important public health and safety information from the CDC.

AudioNet International, in conjunction with the Patient Education Institute, is providing a free Web-based education program on anthrax for both health care staff and the public at large. The program explains the causes and types of anthrax and reviews the symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of the illness through vaccination and awareness. The program can be accessed at http://www.audionetintl.com/ by clicking on the bioterrorism image on the first page. The program requires a Flash plug-in and is best viewed with Internet Explorer 5 (or higher) or Netscape 4.7 (or higher).

The National Health Policy Forum (NHPF) of The George Washington University is offering an extensive online resource on emergency preparedness and bioterrorism, located at http://www.nhpf.org/bioterror_links.htm. A remarkably comprehensive list of Internet links is available on the site along with an NHPF background paper entitled "Emergency Preparedness from a Health Perspective: Preparing for Bioterrorism at the Federal, State, and Local Levels".

The NHPF is a nonpartisan education and information exchange program. For more information on its mission or to download other issue briefs and background papers, please visit their website at http://www.nhpf.org.

Technical assistance calls for grantees continue to be held every other Tuesday from 2 to 3 PM EST. The schedule for November and December appears below. To register for the calls, please contact Angelique Raptakis at 301-468-6006 Ext. 501 or at araptakis@mac1988.com with your name and contact information at least one week prior to the call.

Shortly after you register, you will receive a call-in number and an access code. If you do not receive this call-in information by the Monday before the call, please contact Angelique. Agendas and related materials for TA calls will be emailed in advance of the call.

Please note: We may be having an MIS technical assistance call on December 18th and further information will be forthcoming. Following the December call(s), there will be a brief winter break. TA calls will resume Tuesday, January 8, 2002.

With the exception of calls related to legal issues, all TA calls are summarized and posted on the CAP website (www.capcommunity.hrsa.gov). Legal issue briefs are posted on the site under legal issues and require a password, which may be obtained by emailing asmolkin@hrsa.gov. You may also request an audiotape copy of any previous calls by contacting Audrey.

The Peter F. Drucker Foundation for Nonprofit Management is currently accepting applications for the 2002 Peter F. Drucker Award for Nonprofit Innovation.

The award is given each year to a nonprofit organization that has made a difference in the lives of the people it serves. The award is accompanied by a prize of $25,000 and a short video documentary of the winning project or program. Applications must be submitted by the 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization responsible for the program. The submission deadline is July 7, 2002.

For complete guidelines and to download an application, visit the Drucker Foundation Web site at http://www.drucker.org/award/index.html . Interested parties may also contact the Foundation via the following:

Peter F. Drucker Foundation for Nonprofit Management
320 Park Ave., 3rd Floor
New York, NY 10022 USA
Tel: (212) 224-1174
Fax: (212) 224-2508
E-mail: info@pfdf.org

The National Asian Women's Health Organization (NAWHO) has announced the availability of funds through the "Promoting Prevention for Healthy Communities: the National Asian American Immunization Project", a cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 

NAWHO will award funds ranging from $10,000 to $25,000 to a maximum of eight community-based minority organizations. The funds may be used to conduct immunization education activities in 2002. Applications may be requested by email (nawho@nawho.org), by calling 415-989-9747, or downloaded at http://www.nawho.org/partnership/immunization.html. Submissions must be received no later than December 7, 2001.

On October 31, 2001, the Human Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) announced a new $6.3 million initiative that will help improve the health status of Mississippi Delta region residents. The region includes 205 counties in Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi and Tennessee -- an area characterized by poverty, high unemployment rates and a lack of health care resources. The initiative will provide grants to create networks that improve access to primary care services and to help small rural hospitals improve their operations and financial performance. More than half of all small rural hospitals in the Delta region are financially troubled. Approximately 80 of these hospitals will receive assistance as a result of this initiative.

Congratulations go out to CAP grantee Aaron E. Henry Community Health Services Center, one of the Delta grant recipients!

To learn more about this exciting initiative, please visit http://www.hrsa.gov/newsroom/releases/2001 Releases/deltagrants.htm .

Rural CAP communities can benefit from the Rural Health Care Division (RHCD) of the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC), "a universal service support mechanism authorized by Congress and designed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to provide reduced rates to rural Health Care Providers (HCPs) for telecommunication services related to the use of telemedicine and telehealth."

Funds are generated by the Universal Service fee collected on each and every phone bill. They may be used to support telemedicine, teleradiology or even T1 Internet lines. Several CAP communities already benefit from this program. For more information, please contact William England at wengland@universalservice.org. The RHCD website can be found at http://www.rhc.universalservice.org/overview .

On October 22, 2001, HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson announced the award of 35 grants totaling $10.6 million to improve access to health care in underserved areas in Alaska and across the United States. The breakdown of the grant awards is as follows:

• 12 awards totaling more than $6.4 million under the Alaska Frontier Health Project

• 10 grants totaling almost $3.5 million in Community and Migrant Health Center New Start/Expansion grants

• 13 grants totaling $639,900 under the Healthy Schools/Healthy Communities (HSHC) Program

For more information on the grants or to see a detailed recipient list, please visit: http://www.hrsa.gov/Newsroom/releases/2001 Releases/alaska.htm .

The Robert Wood Johnson Community Health Leadership Program is currently accepting nominations for 2002. Each year, the Program honors 10 outstanding individuals who assist in expanding access to health care and social services for underserved residents in communities across the country. Each honoree is awarded $100,000, 95 percent of which goes for program support. Eligible recipients include community-based health providers and advocates who have created or significantly improved health programs in communities where health care and social service needs had been previously neglected. Nominations are welcome from any individual who has been inspired by someone working to provide better community health services.

For complete eligibility and guidelines information, please visit the Program's website at http://www.communityhealthleaders.org. The Program may also be contacted via email (info@communityhealthleaders.org ), phone (617-426-9772), or mail: 30 Winter Street, Suite 920, Boston, MA 02108.

Pre-Application Workshops sponsored by HRSA's Bureau of Primary Health Care (BPHC) will be held throughout the country between November 2001 and March 2002. The goal of the workshops is "to successfully create or significantly expand 130-150 Health Center access points for special populations in the multi-year Presidential Initiative (FY 2002 to FY 2006)".

For more information or to register for a workshop, please visit https://www.psava.com/Internet/register/. Click the "View All Conferences" link and then "Pre-Application Workshops for Health Centers Serving Special Populations." Additional information may also be obtained from Lora Robinson, Professional & Scientific Associates, at 703-852-2953 or by email at L_Robinson@psava.com .

Additional information is now available for the 7th Annual Community Care Networking Conference, "Accent On Results", taking place November 29 - December 1 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Conference is sponsored by the Health Research and Educational Trust (HRET) of the American Hospital Association. It is designed for representatives of hospitals, community health center networks, and public health and other social service organizations who wish to meet their colleagues and share lessons learned.

For discounts on travel arrangements, contact Rosenbluth Travel at 312-422-2174. Go to http://www.aha.org/hret to print the brochure and mail or fax the registration form. For additional information, please call 312-422-2615, or visit the CCN website at hthttp://www.communitycare.org .

Two of the sessions from Grantmakers In Health's (GIH) Washington Briefing, "Breaking Down Barriers: Granting Access to Better Health Care?" are currently archived online by the Kaiser Network at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/healthcast/gih/nov01 . The two sessions available are entitled "Future Shock: Meeting the Complex Needs of an Aging Population" and "100 Percent Access and 0 Disparities? Straight Talk About What It Will Take to Get to There From Here." Both sessions are available as video or audio files. Support documents are also provided in Adobe Acrobat format.

For more information, visit the website or contact Piper Krauel, CCPH Program Director, at piperk@itsa.ucsf.edu or 415-502-7933.

The Clinical Institutes are new, intensive training programs for clinicians at school-based health centers (SBHCs). The Institutes provide opportunity for clinicians to advance their knowledge of specialized clinical service areas, gain important and practical training, share best practices and available resources, and network with colleagues. Two days of training will focus on four specialized content areas:

• HIV/STD's Risk Assessment and Intervention

• Comprehensive Risk Assessment and Intervention Strategies

• Mental Health Screening and Substance Abuse

• Asthma

The Institutes will be available across the country from January – April, 2002. For information and online registration, please visit http://www.clinicalmeetings.com. Additional information may also be obtained by calling 888-889-6177 or sending an email to skerin@jwallc.com .

The Coalition for Healthier Cities and Communities (CHCC) has announced the first annual meeting of the Healthy Communities Network (HCN), which will take place on November 28 and 29 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The meetings will take place as part of the Community Care Network's 7th Annual Conference.

The meeting will focus on "The New Stage of the Civic Sector", a phenomenon described by HCN as "a set of dynamics and resources that are beginning to spontaneously converge in communities across America which are enabling healthy community initiatives and other community based initiatives to seriously effect community transformation and lay the groundwork for a much higher quality public policy."

To register for this event or to become an HCN member, please visit http://www.healthycommunities.org, or contact Coalition Coordinator Roz Hansen at r_hansen@woodburycorp.com or 801-485-7770.

The following is provided as information only; the services have not been evaluated by HRSA staff nor is this posting an endorsement in any way. Please use or not use the information at your own discretion and choice.

HIPAAdocs is a for-profit vendor offering services to assist small providers in complying with HIPAA privacy and security regulations. The HIPAAdocs website provides interactive gap assessment tools, risk mitigation reports and registry for tracking progress, policies and procedures generation tools, distance training for the Privacy Officer and staff, and updates on regulatory activity. For more information, please visit their website: www.hipaadocs.com .

The Kaiser Family Foundation recently released a detailed report that examines the health status of the large and growing urban Native American population. The report also examines Federal and state health programs that are available to improve health care access for this growing community. For the full report, go to: http://www.kff.org/content/2001/6006 .

For more information about the Kaiser Family Foundation's work on American Indian and Alaska Native health issues, please contact Marsha Lillie-Blanton at (202) 347-5270.

The health care policy journal INQUIRY recently released a special journal issue, "Strategies to Expand Health Insurance for Working Americans", which focuses on tax credits and financial incentives that may help uninsured people purchase health insurance. The special journal issue originated as background papers from a December 2000 conference held by The Commonwealth Fund Task Force.

For press releases and article abstracts, please visit the INQUIRY's website at http://www.inquiryjournal.org. The Commonwealth Fund's website can be found at http://www.cmwf.org. This and other reports may also be ordered by calling 888-777-2744 or by sending email to publications@cmwf.org .

The Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured has released five new publications to assist health care personnel in assessing the impact of recent tragic events on the health care system:

• "Health Insurance for Unemployed Workers"  (http://www.kff.org/content/2001/4018/4018.pdf )

• "Medicaid Budgets Under Stress: Survey Findings for State Fiscal Year 2000, 2001 and 2002"  (http://www.kff.org/content/2001/4020/4020.pdf )

• "Medicaid and State Budgets: An October 2001 Update"  (http://www.kff.org/content/2001/4019/4019.pdf )

• "COBRA Coverage for Low-Income Unemployed Workers"  (http://www.kff.org/content/2001/4021/4021.pdf )

• "Covering Parents through Medicaid and SCHIP: Potential Benefits to Low-Income Parents and Children"  (http://www.kff.org/content/2001/4022/4022.pdf )

For questions or comments about the publications, please call 202-347-5270. For more information on the KCMU, visit http://www.kff.org/sections.cgi?section=kcmu.

The Commonwealth Fund has released a new report examining gaps in Federal initiatives to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in health care and the efforts of Federal health agencies to collect important data needed to achieve those goals. "Racial, Ethnic, and Primary Language Data Collection in the Health Care System: An Assessment of Federal Policies and Practices," is a comprehensive analysis of the policies governing health care data collection by race, ethnicity and primary language. The report notes that health care workers are often confused about the legality of collecting such information about their clients, or have concerns about the misuse or misinterpretation of the data.

To read, download, or order the report, go to http://www.cmwf.org/publist/publist2.asp?CategoryID=13. For other health care-related issue reports, visit the Fund's main website at http://www.cmwf.org .

The Provider's Guide to Quality and Culture is a Web-based tool supported by the Human Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). It features an interactive quiz to help users enhance their multicultural knowledge and skills, helping them provide culturally and linguistically appropriate services to diverse populations. There are also 11 modules on topics from health problems in selected minority groups to understanding immigrant and minority populations.

The Provider's Guide was released in July 2001 and is frequently updated with current information. It was designed and developed by Management Sciences for Health (MSH), a nonprofit organization dedicated to the improvement of global health. To access this innovative and usefultool,please visit http://erc.msh.org/mainpage.cfm?file=1.0.htm&module=provider&language=English.

The W.K. Kellogg's Community Voices Initiative website (http://www.communityvoices.org) contains updated information on national health policy,as well as community efforts to improve health care access and quality. The site provides free access to important publications, interesting feature articles from health care leaders, and multiple links to other health care-related and nonprofit websites.

In the October issue of CAPStone the website for Volunteers in Health Care was incorrectly referenced. The actual address is http://www.volunteersinhealthcare.org. We apologize for the error.

CAPStone is provided as a service to CAP Grantees by the Community Access Program of the Health Resources and Services Administration. Please forward your corrections, questions or comments about the newsletter to: