More than $13 million in federal funds were allocated to two community health centers in the Rio Grande Valley as part of a $10 billion overall investment announced by the Biden administration Thursday as part of their efforts to expand COVID-19 vaccinations in hard-hit, high-risk areas across the country.
With funds largely from the latest COVID relief package, the American Rescue Plan, the U.S. Department of Health and Human will be investing nearly $10 billion to expand access to vaccinations to communities of color, rural areas, people of low-income, and “other underserved communities,” according to a fact sheet issued by the White House.
As part of the investment, about $6 billion will go toward nearly 1,400 Community Health Centers across the country including two in Cameron County.
The Brownsville Community Health Clinic Corporation, also known as New Horizon Medical Center, will receive $5,900,375 while the Su Clinica Community Health Center in Harlingen will receive $7,696,250.
CHCs nationwide are set up to provide healthcare services to vulnerable populations.
More than 60% of patients there are reported to be racial or ethnic minorities and one in five are people who live in rural communities. Also, more than 91% of their patients are individuals or families who live at or below 200% of the federal poverty line.
The funding, which will begin in April, will be used to expand vaccinations, testing, and treatment for vulnerable populations; deliver preventive and primary healthcare services to people at higher risk for COVID-19; and expand those centers’ operational capacity during the pandemic and beyond, which include improvements to the physical infrastructure and adding mobile units.
Also part of the $10 billion investment, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will also invest $3 billion to help local health departments and community-based organizations launch new programs that are meant to increase “vaccine access, acceptance and uptake” in communities hardest hit by the pandemic.
Additionally, $330 million of the investment will be sent to jurisdictions to support their community health worker services in COVID-19 prevention and control while $32 million will be for training, technical assistance and evaluation.
On top of the financial investment, the Biden administration announced a new partnership with dialysis clinics.
The agreement will focus on providing vaccinations to people receiving dialysis and to healthcare personnel in outpatient dialysis clinics. Vaccines will be provided directly to the dialysis treatment centers so that patients can receive their vaccine dose there.
The focus on patients on dialysis comes as racial and ethnic minorities are disproportionately affected by kidney disease — 34% of dialysis patients are Black while 19% are Hispanic. This leads to Black and Hispanic people being at higher risk of developing severe symptoms of COVID-19.
People on dialysis treatment who then contract the coronavirus disease have a 50% hospitalization rate and a 20-30% mortality rate.
