Friday, May 9, 2025
5/9/2025
Ryan White Title III HIV Capacity Development and Planning Grants - Project Title: Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program Part C Capacity Development Program Project Category: Infrastructure Development Project Director Name: Elizabeth Stafford Contact Phone Number: 812-206-1361 Contact Email Address: Elizabeth.stafford@lifespringhealthsystems.org Website: https://www.lifespringhealthsystems.org Address: 480 Eversman Drive City & State: Jasper, IN 47546 Funding Request: $150,000 Since 1964, LifeSpring Health Systems (“LifeSpring”) has been a premier provider of mental health and primary care services in Southern Indiana, providing a comprehensive array of services that focus on education, prevention, information, assessment, intervention and treatment. LifeSpring continues to promise to serve all patients, offer discounted fees and serve all patients by not denying services to a patient based on race, sex, disability, religion or other factors. LifeSpring serves a large urban and rural population that pose specific disparities to the social determinants of health, mental health and primary health that impact the rural population so greatly. The lack of adequate HIV primary care and support services in Southern Indiana is particularly troublesome, and LifeSpring is well-positioned to enhance the availability and accessibility in the region. Unlike Indiana as a whole, the service area where LifeSpring concentrates there are unique health care factors that impact these communities, relating to culture and religious beliefs, but also those factors that greatly impact the rural community as each county is defined as a rural community. The average median household income for clients in the service area is $58,525, lower compared to the state average of $62,700. Across the service area, 21.9% of the population is below 18 years of age, identifying a population where individuals seek living and tend to stay to start families. Nearly 9% of the service area is uninsured, consistent with the state average and lower than the United States average of 10%.1 The southern Indiana community is also home to a large refugee and immigrant population from various countries, with data being underreported as many individuals are undocumented and do not report this to the US Census Bureau. This limits funding that is provided to the community even though need is great. Additionally, with a large portion of the service area documented as living in a rural community, the service area bodes a set of challenges that are unique to delivering healthcare and ensuring equitable access to programming. LifeSpring will utilize assistance from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (RWHAP) to improve access to HIV primary care for underserved and low-income individuals living with HIV. Using telehealth, an evidence-based tool for connecting with remote and hard-to-reach populations, LifeSpring will focus on infrastructure development as a way to connect with remote populations and expand access to services in rural Indiana. By educating staff and linking patients through care coordination, expanding access to HIV identification outside of primary care, and the establishment of a consistent, patient-centered referral workflow, those at-risk or HIV+ have a direct link to HIV/AIDS programming directly in the community. LifeSpring will strive to achieve the following goals: -Improved internal capacity to deliver telehealth HIV medical care. -Increased accessibility to HIV medical care at the Jasper and Austin sites. -Enhanced preparedness and strategic insight for future telehealth service expansion at remote sites. -Expansion plan for future telehealth HIV care service delivery. -Increased opportunities for community members, patients, and clients to provide crucial feed back, and improved organizational awareness of feedback. -Informed adjustments to current and future service delivery at LifeSpring.
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).