National Black History Month
This month is a special time set aside to acknowledge and celebrate the accomplishments and many achievements of those in the Black community, especially those in medicine and community health. Black history makers are among the leadership in community health centers in Mississippi, and we honor you and your accomplishments.

Please enjoy these resources about those African Americans
who have made our country and the world a better place.
Member Spotlight
MS-CHCs #ALLINTogetherMS Seeks
to Reduce COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy
Photo Below: Physicians who are #ALLINTogetherMS at Central Miss. Health Services in Jackson, Miss. are (left to right) Janice Bacon, MD; Robert Smith, MD, Lionel Fraser, MD, and Obie McNair, MD. (also pictured on right)
Photo above: Dr. Sonja Fuqua, Clinical Quality Director for CHCAMS, took the COVID-19 vaccine and has been a vocal supporter of getting the shot.
#ALLINTogetherMS is a CHCAMS initiative to promote the COVID-19 vaccine to communities of color in Mississippi who are patients at Community Health Centers. The purpose is to combat vaccine hesitancy. We encourage your staff to share pictures of providers getting the COVID-19 vaccine on your social media channel with the #ALLINTogetherMS hashtag to raise awareness and reduce skepticism and hesitancy among patients.

"People obtain information from various sources these days," said Dr. Obie McNair, COO at Central Miss. Medical Services. “Chat rooms, internet websites, and Facebook…there are more sources of information than ever before, and there is a lot of misinformation on the internet.” He says his patients say “they said” when offering reasons for their hesitancy in getting the COVID-19 vaccine. His patients are referring to what is read online or hearsay but are not necessarily written or published by trusted sources or verified by scientific evidence. “ ‘They’ gives out a lot of bad info,” said Dr. McNair. Dr. McNair is one of many providers at Mississippi's CHCs that has been vaccinated against COVID-19. Click here to read more.
Mississippi Delta CHC Featured in National News
NBC News recently reported from the Mississippi Delta about COVID-19 vaccines and the access barriers to residents, particularly those who are Black. John Fairman, CEO of Delta Health Center, was quoted in the news story about the supply of vaccines currently available to Community Health Centers. “The absence of supply is so overwhelming it makes it hard to properly plan,” Mr. Fairman said. “I would submit to you if community health centers had the vaccines, that number would look radically different.” Click here to see the complete story. (Photo: John Fairman receives his COVID-19 vaccination.)
Roll Down Your Window, Roll Up You Sleeve:
Drive-Thru Flu Shot Clinic Held at Family Health Center February 6th. Sponsored by Amerigroup
Please continue to keep Dr. Geroldean Dyse lifted up in prayer.
You are also encouraged to share the information about bone marrow match testing. Contact 601-815-6748.
ACA Insurance Marketplaces Open February 15 - May 15, 2021
The new Special Open Enrollment period will begin February 15 and run through May 15. During this time, anyone who is uninsured or missed the original open enrollment period may enroll in coverage through Healthcare.gov.
Biden Relief Package Moves Forward in Congress
House committees will begin work this week, marking up the $1.9 trillion “American Rescue Plan” to bring the full reconciliation package to the House floor by the week of February 22. The resolution provides reconciliation instructions that will allow Democrats to pass the final bill with a simple majority in the Senate.

Lawmakers will begin honing the details now that the budgetary framework is intact. By the end of next week, House Democrats hope to send a measure to the Senate, where Democratic leadership has prioritized passing a relief package by the time expanded unemployment benefits expire March 14. 
COVID-19 Vaccine Initiative with Community Health Centers
On Tuesday, the Biden administration announced the launch of a program to directly allocate a limited supply of COVID-19 vaccine to select HRSA-funded health centers beginning the week of February 15.
 
The program will initially supply COVID-19 vaccine doses to 25 CHCs nationwide on the 15th. Those centers have already been notified. The program will then expand to 250 health centers and then eventually to all CHCs. The program is beginning in a very limited way due to the limited supply of the COVID-19 vaccine.
REPAAIR / UPLIFT
Health Equity Program
Student Ambassadors Chosen
Central Miss. Health Services, in partnership with the Community Health Center Association, has selected 10 student ambassadors to participate in the REPAAIR/UPLIFT Health Equity Initiative. Six ambassadors are students at Jackson State University and 4 are students at Tougaloo College; both are HBCUs in Jackson, Miss.

They will engage in training and service-learning activities starting today to help them understand the historical and contemporary factors that have contributed to disparate health outcomes among Black Mississippians and communities of color. Focus topics will be reducing food insecurity and improving health literacy.

REPAAIR Ambassadors are required to participate in five educational Zoom meetings, participate in mentoring sessions, complete community engagement activities, and complete a service project.

For more information, contact Desiree Stinson at 601-981-1817 or dstinson@chcams.org.
Briefs
CHCAMS Hosts Weekly CHCs Vaccine Champions Group
The CHCAMS Vaccine Champions group
meets weekly to provide technical assistance to health centers to navigate the phases of preparedness and provider enrollment for administering COVID-19 vaccinations.

Contact Sonja Fuqua for the Zoom link.

For those who missed the live discussions, recordings of the meetings are now available at the CHCAMS COVID-19 Clearinghouse. Click here to access.
Health Department Online Resources for Providers Planning to Give COVID-19 Vaccinations
Visit the Health Department site here.
COVID-19 Clearinghouse-
To access the CHCAMS COVID-19 Clearinghouse, click this link.
Combating Pandemic Pounds and Coronavirus Carbs Series on the CHCAMS YouTube channel. Subscribe here.
 
COVID-19 Vaccine Q &A
Can Be Found Here. 1-24-2021
To sign up for the Wednesday weekly training newsletter,
please contact Desiree Stinson.
News To Use
Funding Opportunities
Grants with ongoing deadlines can be found here .
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