Wednesday, January 15, 2025
1/15/2025
Community Health Center, Inc. (CHCI), 635 Main Street, Middletown, Connecticut, 06457-2718; www.chc1.com, (H80CS00326) Co-Project Directors: Dr. Veena Channamsetty, MD, CMO, 860-852-0809, Veena@chc1.com; and Mary Blankson, DNP, APRN, CNO, 860-227-5432, mary@chc1.com CHCI is requesting $500,000 over the two-year grant period to address colorectal cancer in underserved communities across the state of Connecticut by establishing the End Preventable Deaths from Colorectal Cancer (EPDCC) project. CHCI has been a leading healthcare provider in the state of Connecticut for 50 years, building a world-class primary health care system committed to caring for the uninsured and underinsured populations. A 2019 CT DPH report found that colorectal cancer was among the top three new cancer cases among women and the top three reasons for cancer mortality among men, particularly among non-Hispanic Black men. Additional research by C-HIT reported that fewer than 80% of age-eligible Connecticut residents are up to date on colorectal screenings and that Black and Hispanic residents lag behind their white age-eligible counterparts. As an FHQC, CHCI is well positioned to reach these communities. The health-related social needs of health center patients in our service area that affect equitable access to cancer screening and referral for care and treatment are indicated by our UDS data: 29.2% of CHCI’s patients are best served in a language other than English; 88% of CHCI’s patients have an income that is below 200% of the poverty level. As part of the EPDCC project, CHCI will partner with Yale Cancer Center (YCC), an NCI-designated Cancer Center located in New Haven, CT, and local municipal governments and community-based organizations to address unmet needs or barriers to care to achieve increases in cancer screening and referral for care and treatment. Commitments of outreach support include social media promotion, CHW outreach and education, health promotion a nd referral, referral to CHCI for colorectal screenings, and connecting underserved populations to CHCI colorectal screening services. CHCI will undertake the following project activities as part of EPDCC: 1. Access and affordability –Outreach & Education; Eligibility Assistance; and Patient Navigation; 2. Patient experience – Patient engagement and activation; 3. Screening – Tracking patient screening, referrals, and follow-up; Enhancing health IT workflows; 4. Workforce development – Workforce training. CHCI will hire two Community Health Workers (CHWs) that will, under the guidance of the Co-Project Directors and Program Manager and with assistance from YCC experts, leverage community partnerships to undertake outreach and education activities to CHCI patients to ensure that colorectal screenings and treatments are complete. YCC and CHCI CHWs will assess Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) to identify barriers to engaging in colorectal cancer screening for community members. CHCI will make internal referrals to our Access to Care department for Eligibility Assistance and Patient Navigation, if applicable. CHW will distribute educational materials through community partners, social media, and events. CHCI will also leverage our IT infrastructure to support this project, embedding patient education into our EHR system and using our texting platform for outreach. We believe that the activities proposed in EPDCC will see an increase of an additional 150 patients on average screened each month, over and above our current screening rates. This would result in over 11,000 patients screened for colorectal cancer at a rate of 64.3%, for an 11% increase.100% of those that screen positive will be successfully engaged in follow-up testing and treatment, if necessary. With the support from YCC and our community partners, we believe that we can help patients reach optimal outcomes.
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).