Robert C. Byrd Clinic launched it's Grocery Tour program this month in alignment with April's designation as National Food Month. Amy Jasperse, Certified Culinary Medicine Specialist, is providing a helpful 1-2 hour, in-store training to individuals or groups who want to learn how to read food labels, shop with confidence, and know they've chosen the right foods for their families. In addition, participants will get help with money saving tips and tricks, learn to meal plan, learn to shop for seasonal produce and how to store them, as well as unraveling the mysteries of organic and non-organic foods.

This is a fantastic way to meet community members where they are as well as tackle one of the leading social drivers of health - nutrition! To keep up with this program and RCB Clinic, check out their Facebook Page.

The Health Center Onboarding Checklist (HCOC) has been designed by the STAR² Center to provide a structure and a process for welcoming and integrating new hires at your organization. The tool begins with a background on onboarding and its components including: why it is important, how it bridges recruitment and retention efforts, and how to apply the Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) lens. The HCOC tool also includes an editable template for onboarding and a baseline list of documents required as part of the onboarding process. The tool is available as a Word Document so that is can be a working, living document that users can easily modify to reflect their unique health center’s policies and procedures and stay up-to-date with changing workforce needs and the evolving healthcare environment.

The WVPCA is pleased to invite you to join Cherokee Health Systems, a nationally recognized pioneer in integrated care, in a discussion of the benefits of the Integrated Care Model. Cherokee will share how behavioral-enhanced Patient-Centered Medical Home Model leads to improved patient outcomes, cost efficiencies, provider satisfaction, decreased hospitalizations, decreased ER utilization, better adherence, and enhanced access. This Integrated Care Model will address the many aspects of implementing the model which is a team approach to delivery of services. The health center team should include COOs, CFOs, BH Directors and CMOs.   

The WVPCA is offering this training for only $75 per registrant!

Due to the nature of this training, on-site participation is required for all attendees. 

The West Virginia Drug Intervention Institute (WVDII) is excited to announce, through the generous funding support of a private donor and in collaboration with the West Virginia Primary Care Association (WVPCA), all West Virginia Community Health Centers (CHC) are eligible to receive two ONEbox™ emergency opioid overdose kits per CHC location. Health Centers may use the kits in their facilities or share with community partners.

The ONEbox™ is an on-demand, one-of-a-kind, technology-enabled opioid overdose rescue response kit intended to contain two doses of naloxone, an opioid reversal medication along with personal protective equipment. The box also contains instantaneous video instructions (in both English and Spanish) that are activated when ONEbox™ is opened. Using a bystander intervention model, this video talks the responder through the overdose emergency and administration of naloxone. A training mode is also available for use during a non-emergency.

If you have any questions regarding the ONEbox™ kits, please reach out John Kennedy, Director of School-based/Behavioral Health Service at the WVPCA by calling 304-346-0032 or email at john.kennedy@wvpca.org. Health centers should complete the order information below to receive kits:

Free COVID Testing Will Fade with US Health Emergency in May

When the COVID-19 public health emergency ends in the U.S. next month, you’ll still have access to a multitude of tests but with one big difference: Who pays for them.



For the first time, you may have to pick up some or all of the costs, depending on insurance coverage and whether the tests are done at home or in a doctor’s office.

Biden Says He's Expanding Some Migrants' Health Care Access

President Joe Biden announced Thursday that hundreds of thousands of immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children will now be able to apply for Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance exchanges.

The action will allow participants in the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, to access government-funded health insurance programs.

We know that health disparities in the U.S. became more apparent during the pandemic. The Community Liver Alliance Disparities in Liver Disease Conference empowers us to address health disparities, including differences that occur by gender, race or ethnicity, education or income, disability, geographic location, or sexual orientation. These health disparity populations constitute a large proportion of patients with liver disease and evidence suggests that these populations are disproportionately affected by several common hepatic disorders, which include rare liver diseases, viral hepatitis, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, access to liver transplantation and hepatocellular carcinoma. Our patient and health community engagement through this virtual program will reach communities that are complex, diverse and high-risk, building bridges to healthcare and increasing access to services and resources. Our aim is to affect both health and racial equity among the most vulnerable individuals.

Sex Industry Clinician Series

This 6-part training series throughout July and August will provide a clinical overview of the sex industry and the fine line between sex work and human trafficking. It will include 3 webinar-style educational sessions focusing on special considerations for adults, youth, and Gen Z followed by 3 meeting-style intensives where clinicians can dig deeper into clinical work with these populations.

Sessions:

Adults in the Sex Industry: Work and Trafficking Basics

July 11, 2023 – 10:00-11:30 am EDT

Youth in the Sex Industry: Trafficking and Commercial Abuse

July 18, 2023 – 10:00-11:30 am EDT

Gen Z, the Internet, and the Sex Industry: Navigating the Web

July 25, 2023 – 10:00-11:30 am EDT

Intensive #1: Adult Sex Industry Clinical Exploration

August 8, 2023 – 10:00-11:30 am EDT

Intensive #2: Youth Sex Industry Clinical Exploration

August 15, 2023 – 10:00-11:30 am EDT

Intensive #3: Special Topics in Sex Industry Clinical Exploration

August 22, 2023 – 10:00-11:30 am EDT

A local nonprofit healthcare quality improvement company, Quality Insights, is marking its 50th anniversary by offering $100,000 in grants to nonprofits and community organizations seeking to improve health and health care in West Virginia.

Quality Insights was established in West Virginia in 1973 and has since expanded to Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The nonprofit plans to fund eight to 15 grants in amounts up to $20,000 in areas where its staff collaborates with community coalitions, healthcare facilities and patients to address provider care, grassroots efforts, and education and research.

The grant submission period is now open and will close on June 30, 2023.

For more information visit qualityinsights.org/50.