Friday, April 4, 2025
4/4/2025
Accelerating Cancer Screening - Project Title: Enhancing Access to Colorectal Cancer Screening and Follow-up Care Applicant Organization Name: The Institute for Family Health Address: Corporate headquarters: 2006 Madison Avenue, New York, NY, 10035 Organizational Contact: Maxine Golub, MPH, Chief Development Officer Contact Phone: 917-848-4006 Email Address: mgolub@institute.org Project Director: Isheka Watkins, Family Nurse Practitioner Contact Phone: 718-589-8775 Email Address: iwatkins@institute.org Website Address: www.institute.org Grant program funds requested: $499,999.49 over two years Health Center Program grant number: H80CS00768 Needs to be addressed, the proposed services, and the population group(s) to be served: The Institute for Family Health is one of the largest federally qualified health center networks in New York State (NYS). We operate 29 health centers in medically underserved communities that provide primary care, behavioral health care and dental care to nearly 100,000 patients annually. There is considerable need to increase access to colorectal cancer screening and follow-up care in the New York City (NYC) communities served by the Institute. Colorectal cancer is the second most frequent cause of cancer mortality in the city, and there are significant disparities in incidence, death rates, and screening rates among different races, ethnicities, income levels and neighborhoods. Through our HRSA Accelerating Cancer Screening (AxCS) project, the Institute proposes to increase access to colorectal cancer screening and referral for care and treatment. The Institute operates eight health centers in NYC, and serves roughly 7,500 patients who are eligible for colorectal screenings (i.e., individuals residing in NYC and aged 45 and up or members of other high-risk groups). The proposed project will address our patients’ barriers to care, and increase the number of individuals accessing colorectal cancer screening and follow-up care. Summary of how proposed project will increase access and address barriers to cancer screening and referral to care and treatment: To increase the number of people accessing colorectal cancer screenings and referral to care and treatment in NYC, the Institute will leverage our extensive experience delivering primary and preventative care, including outreach, care navigation and cancer prevention services to vulnerable populations. Our project will provide high-quality outreach, patient education, case management, and other enabling services to individuals in need of colorectal cancer screenings and follow-up care. To accomplish this, the Institute will hire three new care navigators, utilize our robust outreach and electronic health record (EHR) reporting capabilities, and leverage the resources of our partners, described below. Description of proposed partnerships: The Institute will partner with two National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated Cancer Centers, Montefiore Einstein Cancer Center (MECC) and Tisch Cancer Institute (TCI) at Mount Sinai, to enhance our capacity to increase access and address barriers to colorectal cancer screening and referral to care and treatment. Specifically, MECC and TCI will deploy outreach specialists and patient navigators within the Institute’s NYC service areas. The Cancer Centers will also provide training and technical assistance to ensure Institute staff are well-prepared to provide cancer screening and prevention education.
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).