Orange County, California is home to more to 3.2 million people, qualifying as a County that serves with a population of >2 Million. The County of Orange Health Care Agency (HCA), a Local Health Department, requests $22,886,119 to address COVID-19 health disparities among populations at high risk and underserved, including racial and ethnic minority populations. HCA submits a request to provide four overarching strategies: 1) expand existing and/or develop new mitigation and prevention and services to reduce COVID-19 related disparities among populations at higher risk and/or underserved, 2) increase and improve data collection and reporting for populations experiencing a disproportionate burden of COVID-19 infection, severe illness, and death that will guide the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, 3) build, leverage, and expand infrastructure support for COVID-19 prevention and control among populations at higher risk and/or underserved, and 4) mobilize partners and collaborators to advance health equity and address social determinants of health as they relate to COVID-19 health disparities among populations at higher risk and/or underserved. The two overall intended outcomes that will be addressed with this grant include 1) a reduction in COVID-19-related health disparities and 2) improvement of HCA?s capacity and services to prevent and control COVID-19 infection (or transmission) among populations at higher risk and that are underserved, including racial and ethnic minority groups. Through a community-led and -driven solutions approach, HCA will form an Orange County Health Equity Coalition (OC HEC), with participation from cross-sector public/private partners and population-specific collaboratives, to address identified and prioritized determinants of health action areas of focus. Additionally, HCA will fund non-traditional community organizations to provide COVID-19 response and recovery services and supports to underserved and at-risk c
ommunities. Overall, HCA will seek five key milestones including: 1) convene a cross-sector public/private health equity coalition, 2) initiate community planning and engagement processes, 3) employ a data-informed approach to identify and prioritize, determinants of health action areas of focus, 4) identify local solutions and strategies to address determinants of health action areas prioritized and 5) select an implementation approach. Please find HCA?s complete response to the RFP, as per the RFA checklist provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
