Newswire Archives
On Thursday, June 17, at 10am Eastern, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee will hold a hearing entitled, “COVID-19 Response and Recovery: Supporting the Needs of Students in Higher Education & Lessons on Safely Returning to Campus on Safely Returning to Campus”.
The hearing will be available to watch live here.
A new project from Morehouse college, backed by Google, Gilead, and others, aims to advance health equity by identifying, understanding, and responding to health inequities in a way that will allow every person to live well and long from generation to generation. The Health Equity Tracker project currently provides COVID-19 data by race, ethnicity, age, and sex.
The Health Equity Tracker may be accessed here.
The National Academy of Medicine released a discussion paper that examines the experiences of clinicians during the COVID-19 pandemic. Clinician priorities include transforming education and training; and developing policies and programs to address health disparities.
The paper can be obtained at Clinicians and Professional Societies COVID-19 Impact Assessment: Lessons Learned and Compelling Needs - National Academy of Medicine (nam.edu).
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicated that new masking recommendations for individuals fully vaccinated against COVID-19 do not apply to health care settings. Staff, patients, residents, and visitors should continue to wear masks as recommended in all healthcare facilities regarding the recommendations issued on May 13, 2021.
The recommendations on May 13 can be obtained at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/fully-vaccinated-guidance.html.
Today, the Biden-Harris Administration announced $7 billion in funding from the American Rescue Plan Act, passed in March. The funding would go to help states and localities increase their public health staffing and expertise, launch Public Health AmeriCorps, recruit and train public health leaders, building the laboratory workforce and building capacity for future outbreaks, and would create a new grant program to modernize the public health workforce.
The Biden-Harris Administration fact sheet may be accessed here.
This week, the Federation of Associations of Schools of the Health Professions (FASHP), of which ASAHP is a member, sent a letter to Members of Congress which addresses mental and behavioral health, financial aid, student loan forgiveness, and the health professions education provisions in the American Jobs Plan and the American Families Plan.
The letter may be accessed here.
The Department of the Treasury released its Interim Final Rule for $350 billion in state and local funding from the American Rescue Plan Act. These funds can be utilized by states and localities for many purposes, including supporting public health expenditures and providing premium pay for essential workers. State and local governments could begin applying for the aid yesterday and Treasury will begin making payments in the next few days.
More information may be accessed here, a fact sheet may be accessed here, and the Interim Final Rule may be accessed here.
HRSA has announced the opportunity for recipients who are currently funded in the Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program (GWEP) to apply for supplemental funding under the Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program Competing Supplement. It's purpose is to create and deliver COVID-19 specific education and training to the nursing home workforce and nursing home residents and their families and caregivers within the context of the age-friendly health systems framework. The closing date for applications is June 14, 2021. There are expected to be 11 awards for the $2,000,000 in total funding.
More information may be accessed on here and on grants.gov
Today, House Education and Labor Committee Chairman Bobby Scott (D-VA), Rep. Susan Wild (D-PA), and Rep. Susie Lee (D-NV) introduced the Direct Creation, Advancement, and Retention of Employment (CARE) Opportunity Act. The legislation, which aligns with President Biden’s American Jobs Plan, would invest more than $1 billion over five years in training and increasing opportunities for the nation’s direct care workers, which include personal care aides, home health aides, and nursing assistants.
The press release may be accessed here, fact sheet here, and bill text here.
The New York Times provides an overview of how Pfizer makes it Covid-19 vaccine, covering the science as well as the manufacturing process.
The article may be accessed here.
Earlier today, President Biden unveiled his American Families Plan, which includes $1.8 trillion in new spending and is the second part of his infrastructure proposal. A fact sheet is available here. The President will discuss the proposal tonight as part of his first joint address to Congress. The proposal calls for expanding existing institutional aid grants to HBCUs, TCUs, and MSIs, and explicitly states that they may use such funding to create or expand educational programs in high-demand fields such as allied health.
According to a Washington Post-Kaiser Family Foundation poll, roughly three in 10 health care workers have weighed leaving their profession, more than half are burned out, and about six in 10 say stress from the pandemic has harmed their mental health. Younger health care workers were more likely to report feeling burned out about going to work.
The Washington Post article may be accessed here, and the survey results cited may be accessed here.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office has released a new report, “COVID-19: Emergency Financial Aid for College Students under the CARES Act”. The report provides details on how the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) emergency student aid funds were provided to schools under the CARES Act, as well as how schools distributed emergency student aid to eligible students.
The GAO highlights and full report may be accessed here.
According to new RAND survey data, public trust in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention fell by about 10% from May to October 2020, a critical period of the COVID-19 pandemic.
More information can be obtained at Decline in Trust in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention During the COVID-19 Pandemic | RAND.
The U.S. Department of Education discharged $1.6 billion of debt provided to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) that participate in the HBCU Capital Financing Program. This action will provide debt relief to 45 HBCUs. The Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSAA) signed into law in December 2020 provided authority and funding to discharge debts held by HBCUs under the HBCU Capital Financing Program.
The U.S. Department of Education press release may be accessed here.
Today, HHS and the CDC launched the COVID-19 Community Corps, a volunteer, grassroots effort to help encourage COVID-19 vaccination across communities. Volunteers may sign-up to receive resources such as fact sheets and social media content to help build vaccine confidence among family, friends, and neighbors.
More information and an online sign-up form may be accessed here. A press release from HHS may be accessed here.
ASAHP joined nearly eighty organizations in a letter to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra and CDC Director Rochelle P. Walensky that urges them to ensure funding for COVID-19 public health response activities provided through the American Rescue Plan Act prioritizes the communities of color and tribal communities that are disproportionately affected and underserved.
The letter may be accessed here.
Inside Higher Ed’s 2021 Survey of College and University Presidents found that nearly eight in 10 campus leaders say they are confident their institution will be financially stable over the next decade, and more than a quarter strongly agree. Of COVID-19 related issues, the mental health of students was found to be the chief concern of survey respondents.
The Inside Higher Ed article may be accessed here.
On Friday, the U.S. Department of Education released guidance on the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) grants. The department clarifies that the grants may be used for expenses since March 13, 2020, that qualified aliens are eligible to receive HEERF student grants, and specifies potential sources of lost revenue that are and are not reimbursable with HEERF grants.
The U.S. Department of Education press release and documents may be accessed here. An overview from NASFAA may be accessed here.
The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) examines the $350 billion in stimulus funds to state, local, and tribal governments that were included in the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, which was signed into law last week. Such funding is a critical component of the package and could help support higher education.
More information may be accessed here.
