Az CRH Highlights

UA Students Earn the Rural Health Certification of Distinction

Arizona is in dire need of physicians, and the need is greatest in rural areas. The Health Resources and Services Administration estimates that the state needs 563 primary care physicians to eliminate the current shortage and will need 1,941 physicians by 2030. Through the Rural Health Certification of Distinction (COD), UA College of Medicine-Phoenix third-year medical students can get first-hand exposure to rural health care, receive one-on-one instruction with physicians and have direct contact with patients. » Read more.

46th Annual Rural Health Conference

Presented by the Arizona Center for Rural Health in collaboration with the Arizona Rural Health Association, this year's conference theme is The Five Cs of Rural Health in Arizona: Care, Capacity, Connection, Culture & Collaboration.
» Go to our website now for information on registration, lodging, scholarships, exhibit and sponsorship opportunities, plus pre-conferences sessions!

AzCRH Webinar Series

Join us for our next webinar this Thursday, May 16 at 12 noon: Syphilis 2019: Return of the Great Masquerader. The presenter will be Sharon Adler, MD, MPH, clinical faculty at the California Prevention Training Center and Assistant Clinical Professor at UCSF.

Opioids & You: FREE Training in Douglas - May 18

The Arizona Poison & Drug Information Center presents a free introductory training on opioid overdose prevention, recognition, and response. Open to anyone in the community! Participants will receive a free naloxone kit from Sonoran Prevention Works upon completion.

Border Health Information for Action

Researchers, community organizations, health providers, and activists from the region all joining together to discuss and dialogue about their work. May 16-17, 2019 at the Fiesta Inn, Nogales, Sonora. 

HRSA awards $24 million to 120 rural organizations for opioid response

The Health Resources and Services Administration's Federal Office of Rural Health Policy has awarded $24 million for the second round of Rural Communities Opioid Response Program (RCORP) planning grants. Recipients across 40 states will receive $200,000 for one year to formalize partnerships with local stakeholders, conduct needs assessments, and develop plans to implement and sustain substance use disorder (SUD), including opioid use disorder (OUD), prevention, treatment, and recovery interventions. 

Arizona received four awards totaling $800,000 in funding:

• Amistades Inc., Tucson: $200,000
• Community Awareness Resource Entity of Arizona, Saint Johns: $200,000
• Mariposa Community Health Center, Inc., Nogales: $200,000
• Summit Healthcare Association, Show Low: $200,000

The Health Resources and Services Administration’s 2019 National Health Service Corps (NHSC) New Site Application cycle is now open. 

NHSC-approved sites are health care facilities that provide outpatient, ambulatory and primary health care services to populations residing in high-need urban and rural areas. Critical Access Hospitals and some Indian Health Service Hospitals are the only eligible inpatient facilities and must be affiliated with an NHSC-approved outpatient clinic.
Last year, the NHSC received funding to help combat the nation’s opioid crisis and expanded its site types to include outpatient substance use disorder treatment facilities. Now sites providing general substance use disorder treatment, a medication assisted treatment program, or an Opioid Treatment Program are also eligible to apply.

Interested health care organizations are encouraged to read the Site Reference Guide to learn more about the program requirements: 
https://nhsc.hrsa.gov/sites/default/files/NHSC/nhsc-sites/nhsc-site-agreement.pdf. 
The application cycle will close on May 30, 2019 at 11:59 p.m. ET.

Questions? Contact your Regional State Contact:https://nhsc.hrsa.gov/nhsc-sites/contacts/regional-offices-state-contacts.html

CDC Grants for Health and Wellness in Indian Country – Extended to June 12. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will invest $20 million for 30 awards.  Native American tribal organizations and federally-recognized governments are eligible to compete for multi-year projects with long-term goals of reducing rates of death and disability from tobacco use, diabetes, heart disease and stroke, and reducing the prevalence of obesity. The original application deadline of May 15 has been extended to June 12.

May 12-18 is National Women’s Health Week

Preventive Health Service Use Among Rural Women
Policy Brief - Maine Rural Health Research Center, 04/2019
This study used the National Health Interview Survey to examine differences in receipt of preventive health services among rural and urban women. It found that rural women are less likely to receive HPV vaccines and mammograms, even controlling for rural-urban sociodemographic and resource differences.

New One-Stop Resource for FORHP’s Rural Communities Opioid Response Program (RCORP).The Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA) Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) created this new web page with information on upcoming RCORP funding opportunities, current grant recipients, and the program’s impact to date.  RCORP currently includes grants for planning, implementation, and medication-assisted treatment expansion for rural communities and consortia, as well as cooperative agreements for technical assistance, evaluation, and three Rural Centers of Excellence on Substance Use Disorders.  As a reminder, RCORP-MAT Expansion and RCORP-Rural Centers of Excellence on Substance Use Disorders are currently accepting applications through June 10.