What the Federal Stimulus Package Means for Other Recovery Act Health Care Funds

Table of Contents

Lead Hazards Reduction

$100 million has been earmarked for lead poisoning prevention. It will be distributed through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. In New York State, $2,038,081 has been provided to the city of Utica to fund the removal of lead paint hazards.

What this means for New Yorkers:

Utica is the city with the highest incidence of lead poisoning in New York State. The Department of Health's lead poisoning prevention program has previously targeted eight counties at high risk of lead poisoning. The stimulus grant will direct significant funding to the area with the greatest problem, giving Utica the resources it needs to address this issue.

Workforce Training

U.S. Department of Labor

$500 million has been allocated to states through the U.S. Department of Labor to be used for training adults for jobs. New York State will receive $31.5 million of that funding.

In addition, in July, 2009, US DOL announced a $220 million competitive grant opportunity -- open to public entities or private nonprofit entities, local Workforce Investment Boards and their One Stop Systems, Tribal organizations, education and training providers, labor organizations, health care providers, and faith-based and community organizations - for worker training and job placement in health care jobs. Applications were due October 5, 2009.

What this means for New Yorkers

The $31.5 million will be used to support the NYS Department of Labor's One-Stop employment centers. It will also support training given at community colleges and local training organizations that can include courses for health care sector job placements. The funding must be used by June 30, 2011.

US DOL awarded 55 competitive grant awards to staffing shortages and the need for special professional workers in hospitals, clinics and nursing homes. In addition, they can also be used to train and place people in the emerging technology necessary to support electronic health records and sharing medical information via the Internet. Four awards were made to New York State to:

  • Fulton Montgomery Community College, $2,685,657
  • Hudson Valley Community College, $3,382,200
  • Workforce Investment Board of Herkimer, Madison and Oneida Counties, $2,700,096
  • University Behavioral Associates, Inc. $5,000,000

On April 7, 2010, US DOL Employment and Training Administration announced that it will make two categorical competitive grants, of $6.6 million each, for virtual service-delivery models to promote career opportunities in the healthcare sector.

Eligible applicants for the Healthcare Virtual Career Platform category include private nonprofit organizations with a nationally-focused mission. For the category "Enhancing the Ability of Community- and Faith-Based Organizations to Deliver Virtual Career Exploration Services, Including Healthcare Careers," private national nonprofit organizations that deliver services through networks of local affiliates, coalition members or other established partners, including nonprofit operators of One-Stop Career Centers are eligible. Applications were due May 7, 2010.

On June 16, US DOL Employment and Training Administration announced $14.7 million in healthcare career grants:

  • Health Care Virtual Career Platform - $6.6 million awarded to the American Association of Community Colleges, a national nonprofit organization, which will work closely with its partners to provide web-based services designed to explore health care careers and employment and training options in the health care sector.
  • Capacity-Building Grants - $8.1 million awarded to three national community- and faith-based organizations, including almost $3 million to the International Association of Jewish Vocational Services that will conduct training in NYS, to:
    • Ensure that appropriate computer technology equipment is available;
    • Establish adequate capacity and speed of Internet connections at all affiliate locations;
    • Provide all partners with necessary software tools for pre-training and training activities, including computer literacy, career exploration and career development; and
    • Implement training for career coaches and provide staffing resources at the local level

Health and Human Services - Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA)

$500 million in additional funds was included in the Recovery Act to supplement the amounts available in HRSA programs such as the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) and the Nursing Education Loan Repayment Program.

HRSA announced a new program SEARCH, Student/Resident Experiences and Rotations in Community Health, to strengthen systems of care in underserved communities through the development of links between community-based sites and academic institutes. Proposals were due July 20, 2009.

Also, HRSA announced how it will target and distribute, nationwide, $200 million of the available funds:

  • $80.2 million for scholarships, loans and loan repayment awards to students, health professionals and faculty:
    • $39 million for nurses and nurse faculty,
    • $40 million to disadvantaged students in a wide range of professions, and
    • $1.2 million to health professions faculty from disadvantaged backgrounds.
  • $50 million in grants to health professional training programs to purchase equipment needed to expand programs and improve the quality of the training.
  • $47.6 million to support primary care training programs - for example for residents, medical students, physician assistants and dentists - many of whom will practice in underserved areas.
  • $10.5 million to strengthen the public health workforce by supporting traineeships to increase the number of individuals trained in preventive medicine and dental public health residencies.
  • $10.2 million to increase diversity of the health professional workforce.
  • $1.5 million to support the efforts of State professional licensing boards in reducing barriers to telemedicine.

On February 24, 2010, HRSA announced it was soliciting applications for Training in Primary Care Medicine and Dentistry to Support Administrative Academic Units in residency training, pre-doctoral training, faculty development training, physician assistant training and general and pediatric dental residency training program areas.

  • $5 million is available nationwide; HRSA expects to make 10 awards for projects that are two years in duration.
  • Eligible applicants include institutions of higher education and State and county governments; however, either the applicant or a partner must be accredited.
  • Applications were due March 24, 2010.

On February 26, HRSA announced twenty funding opportunities for equipment to enhance healthcare professional training, each valued at $50 million nationwide, with all applications due March 26, 2010.

On April 22, HRSA announced five funding opportunities for Training in Primary Care Medicine. HRSA expects to make between 78 and 100 awards totaling over $51 million. Eligible institutions and intended use of funds vary with each opportunity, but competition is basically limited to hospitals, schools of medicine, or other academically affiliated healthcare professional training programs. Closing date for applications for all five was May 21, 2010:

HRSA followed up these opportunities with $50 million available nationwide for approximately 200 one-year grants for Equipment to Enhance Residency Training, part of the Equipment to Enhance Training for Health Professionals program (EETHP).

  • Competition is open to hospitals, medical and dental schools and academically affiliated physician assistant training programs, and certain nonprofit organizations.
  • Grants be at least $5,000 and at most $300,000.
  • Applications were due May 17, 2010.

On April 28, HRSA announced that approximately $20 million in competitive grants for Training in General, Pediatric, and Public Health Dentistry over four major program areas:

Eligibility varies across the four, but all applications were due May 28, 2010.

What this means for New Yorkers

Funds are awarded directly to applicants for scholarships, loans, and loan repayments. Typically, in exchange they required to serve a minimum of two years in a community that has a shortage of doctors, nurses and other health care professionals. Applications are continuously being accepted and a listing of the location of vacancies and the medical specialty of the positions is available for search.

In August, 2009, HRSA distributed $8.1 million through its Nurse Education Loan Repayment Program to healthcare facilities across the nation. Five downstate facilities in New York received ARRA funds to use to help nurses repay their education debts. Six other colleges and universities in New York were awarded grants totaling almost $500,000 to support the training of masters and doctors nursing degree students who commit to teach in this field.

On September 11, 2009, HRSA announced seventeen grants awarded to New York State colleges and universities, including:

  • Centers of Excellence - $2.1 million to Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Yeshiva University establish or expand programs for minority individuals to improve student academic performance, recruit and retain minority faculty, and expand opportunities to train at off-campus, community-based health care sites.
  • Public Health Traineeships - $163,000 to Columbia University to support traineeships that pay tuition, fees, and stipends for students in biostatistics, epidemiology, environmental health, toxicology, nutrition, or maternal and child health.
  • Dental Public Health Residency Training - $296,000 to Health Research Institute for residency programs in dental public health, including financial aid to residents.
  • Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students - $1.2 million to fourteen health professions schools and training programs which, in turn, provide scholarships to full-time health professions students, with priority given to those with financial need.

On September 17, 2009, the Department of Health received a grant of $54,000 to collaborate with other State agencies and resources to increase the number of NHSC applicants that are placed in qualified sites in New York State and to continue to coordinate these placements with Doctors Across New York.

On July 2, 2010, HRSA announced the award of $27 million in ARRA grants to schools for scholarships to students from disadvantaged backgrounds with financial need, many underrepresented minorities. Funds also provide low-interest loans to nurse faculty students - students who want to teach nursing - as incentive for nurses to select careers as nurse educators. NYS received a total of $5.3 million across seven of the eight program areas:

  • Scholarships For Disadvantaged Students - $1,337,132
  • Nurse Faculty Loan - $146,533
  • Scholarships For Disadvantaged Students - $1,237,985
  • Centers of Excellence - $2,131,256
  • Public Health Traineeships - $162,841
  • Dental Public Health Residency - $295,604

On July 23, HRSA announced that the University of Rochester was awarded a grant of over $600,000 for preventive medicine residency.

On September 17, 2010, HRSA awarded over $130 million in grants to strengthen and expand the health professions workforce; $88.7 million of this total was ARRA funds. New York State received over $12.7 million of the total amount awarded.

Community and Migrant Health Centers

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has been charged with distributing stimulus funds to federally qualified community and migrant health centers (FQHCs). $1.5 billion is to be used for infrastructure and $500 million for services.

What this means for New Yorkers:

On March 29, 2009, five community health centers in New York City and one in Penn Yan were awarded a total of $7 million in New Access Point grant awards. This is expected to provide services for an additional 45,000 people and create 335 jobs.

On March 27, 2009, HHS released $338 million nationwide to 1,128 federally qualified health care centers for Increased Demand for Services (IDS) grants.

  • New York State centers received $19.8 million, or 5.87% of the national total.
  • 51 centers received grants – 29 of them in New York City boroughs. New York City's share of the New York State total is $9.5 million, or 48.2%.

On July 2, 2009, another round of capital improvement grant awards was announced which totaled more than $850 million nationwide.

  • Fifty-one centers in NYS received grants totaling $53.5 million, or approximately 6.39% of the national amount available.
  • Five centers received that maximum amount of $2.5 million.
  • Twenty-nine of the centers receiving these grants are in New York City and obtained a total of $27.9 million or 52% of the State total.

On December 9, 2009, HRSA announced that $88 million has been set aside to enhance the funding of health center controlled networks (HCCNs) to provide additional services in support of ARRA-funded acquisitions of electronic health records and health information technology systems by Section 330 community health centers and HCCNs. Two centers in New York City received grants for a combined total of $1.284 million. A second round of HCCN awards were announced on June 1, 2010; of the $83.9 million nationwide total, four federally-qualified community health centers in New York State received awards:

  • $994,800 to the Charles B. Wang Community Health Center, Inc., in New York City.
  • $3,478,108 to the Community Health Care Association on New York State, in NYC.
  • $1,631,957 to The Institute for Family Health, also in NYC.
  • $997,832 to the Finger Lakes Migrant Health Care Project, Inc., in Penn Yan, Yates County.

Also on December 9th, HRSA listed the 85 community health centers that received grants totaling $508.5 million from the Facility Investment Program that was announced in June. Four centers in New York received a total of $15.56 million in FIP funds:

  • Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx
  • Urban Health Plan Inc., Bronx
  • Family Health Network of Central NY Inc., Cortland
  • Community Healthcare Network, Manhattan

More information, including the full list of recipients for all five of the above grants.

USDA Rural Development Grants

$5.87 billion of the stimulus funds will be distributed nationally by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for rural development. The awards will be made directly to municipalities, counties, special-purpose districts, tribal governments and non-profit corporations that have the legal authority to borrow and repay loans and to construct, operate and maintain facilities. The organizations must be located in rural areas having a population under 20,000 people.

The rural development grants may be used for hospitals, outpatient clinics and rehabilitation centers, medical and dental clinics, and nursing homes. About one-third of current USDA rural development funds are used for community health care programs and facilities.

In addition, USDA Rural Development funds may be used for drinking water infrastructure improvement projects.

What this means for New Yorkers:

The total amount of money that New York will receive for health care rural development from stimulus funds is not yet known. New York State has a number of rural areas that would qualify for this funding; however, it remains to be seen if any projects within the state will be included in the distribution.

Health Research

Non-Federal Research Buildings

Nationally, $10.4 billion will be distributed through the National Institute of Health's National Center for Research Resources for research in the field of health. $1 billion will go for infrastructure; $300 million for shared instrumentation or capital equipment; $400 million for comparative effectiveness research; $8.2 billion for other research; and $500 million for NIH buildings. Awards will be made directly to successful grant applicants, including public or private colleges and universities.

What this means for New Yorkers

Many of New York State's colleges and universities apply for these grants. Applications for $200 million of Challenge Grants were due at the end of April 2009; applications for various infrastructure and equipment funds were due over the course of the summer of 2009.

NIH lists all the research grant awards on its web site. Information about the approximately 1,950+ awards coming into New York can sorted by Congressional District and research institution. Specific details about the nature of the research and the amount of the award are also posted. These new ARRA-funded research projects have resulted in approximately 100 new scientific healthcare related patents. In addition, NIH has granted New York State over $3 million in supplements to employ about 250 students and teachers in summer research projects.

In September 2010, the National Institutes of Health, National Institute for Minority Health and Health Disparities, awarded grants under its Comparative Effectiveness Research for Eliminating Disparities (CERED) Program. Mount Sinai School of Medicine received $1.4 million and Columbia University Health Sciences received just under $1.4 million to develop, implement, and test strategies to increase the adoption and dissemination of interventions based on patient-centered outcomes research among racial and ethnic minority populations.

Greater funding for health-related research not only benefits the institutions and scientists receiving the grants, but it may also find new ways to prevent or cure disease.

Health Research and Quality

$1.1 billion will be distributed through the National Institute of Health's National Institute of Arthritis, Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. Of that funding, $300 million will go to the federal Agency for Healthcare Research Quality to expand its Effective Health Care program, which provides reviews of health research to the research and medical community. $400 million will go the National Institutes of Health and $400 million will go to the federal Department of Health and Human Services. Before any awards are made, the Institute of Medicine (the part of the National Academy of Sciences that is concerned with medicine, biomedical science, and health) must recommend priorities for research. Those recommendations were completed in June 2009. A Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research will be convened to offer guidance and coordination on the use of these funds.

AHRQ announced two new comparative effectiveness research grant opportunities on September 25, 2009: $100 million in CHOICE grants and $29.5 million in iADAPT grants. Applications for both initiatives were due in December. NYU School of Medicine received a CHOICE grant.

AHRQ announced another two new comparative effectiveness research (CER) grant limited competition opportunities on December 8, 2009, PROSPECT and EDM Forum, totaling $48 million. Final applications for EDM Forum were due January 20, 2010; the deadline for PROSPECT grants has been extended to February 17, 2010. Columbia University received a PROSPECT grant to study community-based CER in Washington Heights.

On December 11, 2009, AHRQ announced two additional limited competitions, both were due January 20, 2010 to provide supervised study and research to cohorts of clinical and research doctorates:

On December 17, 2009, AHRQ announced a limited competitive opportunity, Comparative Effectiveness Research to Optimize Prevention and Healthcare Management for the Complex Patient, with $6 million available nationwide to be awarded to between 12 to 18 recipients.

  • Eligible applicants include Federal agencies and local, tribal and State units of government; institutions of higher education; and public or non-profit institutions such as faith-based or community-based organizations.
  • Letters of intent were due January 8, 2010 and full applications on January 20, 2010.
  • Applications must fall into one of three categories, with differing project budget limits and varying durations:
    • Epidemiologic descriptions based on secondary analysis of large data sets of specific chronic illnesses.
    • Analytic epidemiologic studies to assess benefits and harms of preventive and therapeutic interventions for patients who have multiple chronic co-morbid conditions.
    • Modeling studies.

A related limited competition grant opportunity was announced on December 22, 2009: Expansion of Research Capability to Study Comparative Effectiveness in Complex Patients. AHRQ expects to make twelve awards, totaling $12 million, for two year projects that will build or enhance partnerships, datasets and methodologies to improve the capacity to study, and the quality of studies, of patients with multiple chronic illnesses. Competition is open to the same eligible entities as above with the same application deadline of January 20, 2010.

On December 28, 2009, NIH announced five new limited competition grant opportunities. Three of them, for a total of $30 million, target advancing comparative effectiveness research, generally, through clinical trials, pilot research and methodology development; one CER opportunity for $15 million is specifically for gastro-esophageal reflux disease, for eradication of MRSA and for dementia detection and management strategies. The fifth opportunity valued at $80 million is for Directors awards in five thematic areas, including genomics, global health and using science to advance health care reform. Eligible entities includes, State local and tribal units of government; institutions of higher education and independent school districts; for profit and small businesses and non-profit organizations; community-based and faith-based organizations and public housing authorities. Applications vary for each opportunity with due dates between February 26 and April 7, 2010.

On January 4, 2010, NIH announced that $3 million is available nationwide for a limited competitive grant opportunity: Research on Biosamples from Selected Diabetes Clinical Studies. Funds may be used to access and/or perform validated laboratory assays on non-renewable (non- DNA) samples generated by six specific NIDDK-funded clinical trials and studies. Between five and ten awards are expected to be made, with a maximum grant of $400,000 each for two year projects. Eligible entities includes, State local and tribal units of government; institutions of higher education and independent school districts; for profit and small businesses and non-profit organizations; community-based and faith-based organizations and public housing authorities. Applications were due March 11, 2010.

Also on January 4th, NIH advised current grant recipients with comparative effectiveness research projects that they are eligible to submit an application for administrative supplements, not to exceed $500,000, to develop, expand and/or increase CER training, education, and career development. Up to sixteen awards will be made with applications due March 1, 2010.

On January 5, 2010, NIH announced that current grant recipients may apply for supplemental administrative funds to provide an opportunity to introduce basic behavioral and social science research (b-BSSR) into their NIH-funded research projects. Between ten and twenty awards will be made, totaling $2 million nationwide. Applications were due February 18, 2010.

On January 11, 2010, NIH announced that $14 million would be available nationwide to support approximately five to ten grants of between $300,000 and $3 million per award for Accelerating the Adoption of Comparative Effectiveness Research Results by Providers and Patients. Applications were due March 11, 2010 and the following types of organizations are eligible:

  • Integrated health care systems
  • Integrated provider systems
  • Academic medical centers
  • Provider consortia
  • Community health center networks
  • Private payers
  • Other non-governmental organizations that administer or directly provide health care services
  • Organizations that serve health care consumers
  • University-based school (e.g. School of Public Policy or Public Health)
  • Private research institutes

On January 13, 2010, NIH announced a limited competitive grant opportunity of $25 million, the Institutional Comparative Effectiveness Research Mentored Career Development Award. Research-intensive institutions, including State and tribal governments, non-profit and for profit organizations (except small businesses) and colleges and universities can submit applications to support mentored career development in support of CER in an interdisciplinary environment catering to the needs of diverse populations of scholars including those with backgrounds in biostatistics, epidemiology, health economics, pharmacology, medicine, and dentistry. Between eight and ten awards are expected, each limited to no more than $2.5 million for a project that lasts up to three years. Applications were due March 25, 2010.

On January 21, 2010, AHRQ announced two limited competitive grant opportunities for:

  • Enhanced Registries for Quality Improvement and Comparative Effectiveness Research.
    • Grants must be used to develop the infrastructure and improve the methodology for collecting prospective data from electronic clinical databases in order to generate new evidence on the comparative effectiveness of healthcare interventions.
    • City, county, State and tribal governments and institutions of higher education, along with eligible Federal agencies, can submit applications which were due March 29, 2010.
    • AHRQ expects to make two awards for projects not to exceed three years and annual budgets below $4 million.
  • Scalable Distributed Research Networks for Comparative Effectiveness Research.
    • Funds must be used to enhance the capability and capacity of electronic health networks designed for distributed research to conduct prospective, CER on outcomes of clinical interventions, including but not limited to diagnostics, therapeutics (drugs and biologics), medical devices, behavioral interventions and surgical procedures used in clinical care.
    • State, local and tribal governments, certain Federal agencies and public or non-profit institutions such as colleges and universities and community-based and faith-based organizations can submit applications which were due March 10, 2010.
    • AHRQ expects to make three awards for projects not to exceed three years and annual budgets below $2.77 million.

On January 26, 2010, NIH announced that institutions of higher education could compete for one-year grants to enhance their infrastructure and opportunities for training post-doctoral investigators to carry out innovative, multidisciplinary research in Global Health. Between six and ten awards are expected, capped at $250,000 for single institutions and $400,000 for consortia. Applications were due March 22, 2010. A second small grant for Global Health Research Involving Human Subjects in low- and middle-income countries was announced January 28, 2010. National funds total $650,000 with 12 - 13 grants expected to be awarded. In addition to institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations are eligible with applications due March 22.

On February 2, NIH announced a new $7 million grant opportunity to Support Comparative Effectiveness Research for Eliminating Disparities (CERED). Eligibles are limited to only those institutions/organizations with active National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NCMHD) grants for Exploratory Centers of Excellence and Comprehensive Centers of Excellence. NIH expects to make five awards for projects not to exceed two years with budgets capped at $1.4 million. Applications were due April 6, 2010.

On February 5, AHRQ announced a $13 million limited competitive grant opportunity, Accelerating Implementation of Comparative Effectiveness Findings on Clinical and Delivery System Interventions by Leveraging AHRQ Networks. AHRQ wants to leverage three existing networks: Accelerating Change and Transformation in Organizations and Networks (ACTION), Practice-Based Research Networks (PBRNS) and Chartered Value Exchanges (CVE). However, other institutions, such as colleges, units of government and faith-based and community-based organizations are eligible to submit applications for three year grants with budgets not to exceed $5 million. Applications were due March 24, 2010.

On February 12, AHRQ announced a $7 million limited competitive grant opportunity, Comparative Effectiveness Delivery System Evaluation Grants. Funds to be awarded to conduct rigorous comparative evaluations of alternative system designs, change strategies, and interventions that have already been implemented in healthcare and are likely to improve quality and other outcomes.

  • AHRQ expects to make between six to ten awards for projects not to exceed three years, with annual budgets capped at $500,000.
  • Eligible applicants include: State, city, county and tribal units of government; certain Federal agencies; institutions of higher education; and faith-based and community-based organizations.
  • Applications due March 18, 2010.

Related to the above opportunity, on February 19, AHRQ announced a second limited competitive grant opportunities for Comparative Effectiveness Delivery Systems

  • Demonstration Grants - $12 million is available nationally to fund between three and six awards to conduct demonstrations of
    1. Broad strategies and/or specific interventions for improving care by redesigning care delivery, or
    2. Strategies and interventions for improving care by redesigning payment in order to achieve major improvements in care quality (including clinical outcomes and other dimensions), improve access to care, reduce disparities, or improve population-based measures of health outcomes.

Projects cannot exceed three years with annual budgets limited to between $500,000 and $1 million. The same entities are eligible as for the Delivery System Evaluation Grants; applications were due March 23, 2010.

Also on February 19, AHRQ announced a limited competitive grant opportunity to Enhance State Data Analysis Tracking Comparative Effectiveness Impact: Improved Clinical Content and Race Ethnicity Data which is open to organization seeking to either

  1. Enhance the clinical content of statewide, all-payer, hospital-based encounter-level data to support comparative effectiveness research, or
  2. Improve the reliability and validity of information in hospital-based encounter-level data related to race and ethnicity.

Between 7 and 15 awards totaling $10 million will be awarded for three year projects capped at $1.5 million. In addition to institutions of higher education, certain federal agencies, State, county, city and tribal units of government being eligible, so are state data organization (units of state government, state hospital association, or private not-for-profit entity which collects statewide hospital encounter data (inpatient, emergency department, and/or ambulatory surgery). Applications were due March 29, 2010.

On February 22, 2010, AHRQ posted a solicitation for proposals for a contract to provide the services for the project entitled "Citizen's Forum", which will seek to expand and systematize broad citizen and stakeholder engagement in AHRQ's comparative effectiveness research initiative. It is anticipated that a single contract will be awarded, with 3 base years and 2 option years (3 year contract with 2 one-year options).

On February 25, AHRQ posted a solicitation for proposals for a contract to establish a Horizon Scanning System in order to identify new and emerging issues for comparative effectiveness investments through the Effective Health Care (EHC) Program. This project provides a systematic process to identify and monitor healthcare technologies that are likely to have a high clinical, system and cost impact in the US. AHRQ awarded a contract on September 2, 2010 to ECRI Institute.

On March 5, 2010, NIH announced a limited competitive grant opportunity for a new program, the Director's Pathfinder Awards to Promote Diversity in the Scientific Workforce.

  • Grants to be used to improve the ability to recruit subjects from diverse backgrounds into clinical research protocols and to improve the Nation's capacity to address and eliminate health disparities and to encourage exceptionally creative individual scientists to develop highly innovative and possibly transforming approaches for promoting diversity within the biomedical research workforce.
  • $10 million available nationally, with an award ceiling of $2 million.
  • Certain federal agencies and State, county, city, special district and tribal units of government are eligible; as well as institutions of higher education and independent school districts, public housing authorities, and both non-profit and for profit businesses.
  • Applications were due May 4, 2010.

Also on March 5, HRSA announced it was accepting applications for a Maternal and Child Health Pediatric Network Program. One $3.5 million award was made to Columbia University in early September to support the infrastructure within an established pediatric applied research network to enable it to more readily conduct comparative effectiveness research in pediatric primary care sites.

On March 8, 2010, AHRQ issued a request for proposals for DEcIDE-2, Developing Evidence to Inform Decisions about Effectiveness Research Network-2. Six to ten 36-month contracts will be awarded to provide a variety of research services and scientific products to support the generation of new scientific evidence on patient-centered outcomes of healthcare items and services, with a focus on comparative clinical effectiveness research. Typical task orders are expected to range between $250,000 and $1 million. Competition is not limited to existing DEcIDE research centers. Notices of intent were due April 12, and proposals by April 27, 2010.

On March 9, 2010, HRSA announced a limited competition grant opportunity, Community Health Applied Research Network (CHARN) Research Node Centers. CHARN cooperative agreements provide infrastructure support for consortia of safety net providers and academic institutions to develop the capacity to undertake community-based comparative effectiveness research. In early September, HRSA made six awards, totaling almost $13.5 million, to networks of federally-qualifed community health centers in California, Illinois, Massachusetts and Oregon.

On March 10, 2010, NIH announced a limited competition grant opportunity, Impact of Decision-support Systems on the Dissemination and Adoption of Imaging-Related Comparative Effectiveness Findings. Two, two-year projects will be funded to study the impact of clinical decision support systems in disseminating and increasing the consideration of comparative effectiveness research findings.

  • Eligible applicants include nonprofit organizations and for-profit businesses; institutions of higher education and independent school districts; regional and community-based and faith-based organizations; and State, county, city and tribal governments.
  • Letters of intent were due April 5, with full applications May 5, 2010.

On March 19, 2010, CDC announced a new grant, Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity (ELC) for Infectious Diseases (ELC) Infrastructure and Interoperability Support for the Public Health Laboratories. Only the 58 governmental entities currently having ELC cooperative agreements, including both New York State and New York City, are eligible to apply. CDC will award 25 grants between $100,000 and $600,000, to enable public health programs to exchange electronic data with clinical care for the more rapid advancement of meaningful use of EHRs. Applications were due April 21, 2010.