It’s hard to believe that we’re already a couple of months into 2023! I hope everyone found time to enjoy the holiday season and hope that your year is off to a great start. 

As most of you likely have heard, the Department of Health and Human Services is planning for the federal Public Health Emergency (PHE) for COVID-19 to expire at the end of the day on May 11, 2023. The end of the PHE doesn’t mean the end of COVID, of course, but it likely does mean an end (for now, at least) to the tranches of federal and state funding our health centers received related to the PHE. That means all of us involved in the health center procurement/supply chain will face increasing demands to control costs, find better pricing and create additional efficiencies. I hope the Delta Purchasing Alliance (DPA) will continue to be a resource for you as we move forward into the post-PHE era.

In the coming weeks, please keep an eye out for invitations to DPA webinars highlighting savings programs in areas such as dental supplies and patient translation services. We look forward to partnering with the DPA’s supplier partners at Language Services Associates (LSA) and Patterson Dental to explain in detail their product and service offerings and, of course, the savings available to you as a result of your DPA membership. The first of our webinars with LSA is detailed later in this email newsletter.

As always, if you have any questions or suggestions for the Delta Purchasing Alliance, please email me at [email protected]. 

Don Daniel, Executive Director

Community Health Best Practices

A big thank you to everyone who attended the 2023 DPA Member Summit held in Las Vegas, NV on January 19, 2023! We had a great turnout with procurement and supply chain staff from 21 community health centers and seven vendor/supplier partners in attendance. 

The annual DPA Member Summit is a unique educational and networking event open to the DPA’s member health centers and our supplier partners. Attendees at the 2023 DPA Member Summit:

• Heard about new and upcoming Delta Purchasing Alliance supplier contracts and future plans for the DPA

• Attended learning sessions with DPA supplier partners and gained insights into how to effectively maximize supplier savings

• Learned supply chain best practices from other DPA health center staff and healthcare supply chain industry professionals; and

• Networked with their health center peers throughout the day and at our evening cocktail reception following the Summit

If you attended the Member Summit this year and have follow-up questions or need additional information on anything you learned, please reach out to DPA Executive Director Don Daniel at [email protected].

If you were unable to join us in Las Vegas in January, keep an eye out for details regarding the 2024 DPA Member Summit. The location and details will be announced later this year!

Our supplier partner McKesson is asking for feedback regarding your health center’s current practices and needs, particularly surrounding vaccines, lab testing, and procurement/inventory management systems. The survey takes just a couple of minutes. Thank you for taking a few moments to respond!

Please join us on March 14, 2023, at 2 pm EST for a webinar to learn about the DPA’s outstanding preferred pricing program with Language Services Associates (LSA). Jerry Lotierzo, Strategic Sales Manager for LSA, will present an overview of his company’s language interpretation solutions designed to help optimize the experience of limited English proficient patients. We will also spend some time discussing the DPA’s innovative preferred pricing model that can save your health center thousands of dollars on your health center’s monthly translation services costs. 

Please join us, and feel free to forward this invitation to other staff in your health center who may be involved with patient translation services.

https://pmsmeetings.zoom.us/j/5057951399?pwd=bUR0YTdZeHBNZzhBdWJtcTVpZlNjUT09

Note: please use the following password
PMS123

The DPA is excited to welcome three community health centers to our membership: 

• Wilmington Community Clinic, Wilmington, CA

• Sun River Health, Peekskill, NY

• 1st Choice Healthcare, Corning, AR

About Wilmington Community Clinic
At Wilmington Community Clinic, patients from in and around Wilmington and Los Angeles, California can receive a variety of primary and preventative health care services. The clinic doctors offer wellness visits and school physicals, women's health services, STD testing, health maintenance guidance, primary care visits, prenatal exams, pediatric care, and mental health services.

The clinic was created in 1977 to treat a critical need for both child and women’s healthcare services in the Wilmington area. Over the years, the demand for care has grown. The practice has grown as well, adding and expanding the number of patients which can be seen each year by practically 500%. Many of the Wilmington Community Clinic staff are from the community and have worked with the practice for more than five years, providing services to families living in the surrounding areas from two locations.

To learn more about Wilmington Community Clinic, visit www.wilmingtoncc.org.

About Sun River Health
In the early 1970s, four African American women in Peekskill, New York came together to address the lack of affordable, quality health care in their community. With money from a small federal grant, the first Sun River Health site was opened in 1975.

That first health center has since grown to become a federally qualified health center (FQHC) system with over 45 locations, serving more than 250,000 patients throughout the Hudson Valley, New York City, and Long Island. Their exceptional primary care practitioners, specialists, and support staff have made Sun River a destination for affordable, high-quality care.

In December 2018, Brightpoint Health, an FQHC network offering integrated medical, behavioral, and social support services in New York City, merged with Hudson River Health Care. Together, with subsidiary organizations, Sun River Health launched in December 2020.

To learn more about Sun River Health, visit www.sunriver.org

About 1st Choice Healthcare
1st Choice Healthcare is a non-profit, Joint Commission accredited, FQHC headquartered in Corning, AR. 1st Choice Healthcare welcomes all members of the community, especially those unable to afford care. They are founded and governed by the community and the Board of Directors is also made up of members from community agencies. 1st Choice Healthcare works closely with government, health, and human services agencies to bring complete, high quality, and affordable healthcare.

1st Choice Healthcare centers are:

• Open to all residents, regardless of insurance status.

• Provides reduced cost care based on ability to pay.

• Customizes services to fit the special needs and priorities of the local communities.

• Provides services based on the advice of residents, businesses, churches, and other organizations.

• Offers services that help patients access health care, case management, health education, nutritional counseling, and chronic disease management.

1st Choice Healthcare embraces and practices patient-centered care and strives to provide all patients with the best possible medical care. 1st Choice Healthcare encourages each patient to take an active role in their healthcare and believes that in addition to providing patient care, they should guide patients in making healthy choices for preventive care.