Thursday, May 1, 2025
5/1/2025
Community Project Funding/Congressionally Directed Spending - Construction - Dallas County Hospital District PROJECT ABSTRACT HRSA-222-134 Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS): Construction Projects Youth & Family Health Dallas County Hospital District dba Parkland Health 5151 Maple Avenue Dallas, TX 75235 Christina Mintner, SVP, Population Health & HOMES (214) 590-4605 Christina.Mintner@phhs.org www.parklandhealth.org Youth & Family Health (Program), a program of the Dallas County Hospital District dba Parkland Health, has served students in Dallas Independent School District and Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District in Dallas County since 1994. The program’s integration into various school campuses allows for school-aged children to receive convenient medical care in a comfortable and familiar atmosphere. The Program is requesting funding to acquire a van for mobile immunization to increase the vaccine rate in Dallas County. Texas leads the nation in the number and percentage of uninsured in the nation. In 2020, the uninsured rate of children under the age of 18 in Texas grew 2.9 percent from 2016 to 12.7 percent compared to a 5.6 percent uninsurance rate in the rest of the United States. Without health insurance, many parents skip their children’s well visits exams, resulting in children going without their needed vaccines and becoming susceptible to vaccine-preventable diseases. In addition, during the pandemic, there was a 44 percent average decline in the number of pediatric vaccines administered in Texas. A mobile immunization van would travel to rotating sites in Dallas County, four to six days a week, targeting areas of low immunization rates. While the goal is to improve the vaccine rate for children, outreach will also be focused on COVID and flu vaccine initiatives for all ages. The Program would partner with community leaders in providing immunizations in non-traditional settings (public events, community centers, daycare centers, etc.). By removing the barriers communities face with vaccine appointments, whether that be scheduling conflicts, insurance status, or transportation issues, the van will bring the vaccine to them. It will also provide the chance to provide vaccine-hesitant people with more information and ease of getting the shot. The cost of the mobile immunization van is $252,398. The Program will utilize current staff to operate the program. The minimum staff will include a registered nurse and medical practice assistant. Funding from the Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) to purchase a mobile immunization van will allow Youth & Family Health to improve the low vaccine rate in Dallas County.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).