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The U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)
supports a wide range of programs that increase and promote
access to health care for vulnerable populations. HRSA’s
Office of Women’s Health (OWH) coordinates many
efforts that address women’s health across their lifespan.
A key project of OWH is the Bright Futures for Women’s Health
and Wellness (BFWHW) initiative, which provides materials
for young women (adolescents) and adult women on topics
such as physical activity and healthy eating, emotional
wellness, and maternal wellness. These and other consumer-friendly
resources, including data books and research reports, can
be found on the OWH
Web site.
The HRSA
Web site provides information about each of HRSA’s bureaus
and offices, several of which administer programs that directly
affect women’s health and access to health care. For example,
Maternal and Child Health Bureaus (MCHB) administers
the MCH Block Grant, a Federal-State partnership to improve
the health of all mothers and children. MCHB also works
to end violence and bullying in schools through the Stop
Bullying Now! Campaign.
HRSA programs facilitate partnerships
to advance women’s health. The Bureau of Health
Professions regularly assesses the health workforce,
conducting numerous studies of capacity and diversity in
health professions in which women predominate, such as nursing.
The Office of Rural Health Policy has partnered
with OWH to adapt BFWHW Physical Activity and Healthy Eating
materials for young women (adolescents) and adult women
in rural communities. The HIV/AIDS Bureau addresses
the needs of women living with HIV/AIDS through all of its
programs, especially Part D (formerly Title IV) of the Ryan
White Program, which targets services to women, infants,
children, youth, and their families. The Healthcare Systems
Bureau oversees a variety of programs that affect access
to lifesaving procedures for women, including the Organ
Procurement and Transplantation Network, as well as the 340B Drug Pricing Program, and Hill-Burton
Free and Reduced Cost Health Care.
The Bureau of Primary Health
Care manages the Health Center Program, which funds
a national network of more than 1,000 health center grantees
at over 3,800 comprehensive, primary health care service
delivery sites comprised of community health centers, migrant
health centers, health care for the homeless health centers,
and public housing primary care health centers. These health
centers deliver preventive and primary care services to
patients regardless of their ability to pay; charges for
health care services are set according to income. Almost
40 percent of the patients treated at health centers have
no insurance coverage and others have inadequate coverage.
In 2001, President Bush announced a Health
Centers Initiative to increase access to health care
in 1,200 communities through new or expanded
health center sites. Since then, HRSA has awarded
900 grants to create new health center sites or
expand operations at existing centers, and the
number of patients has risen from 10.3 million in
2001 to an estimated 14.8 million in 2006.
Finally, HRSA’s Health Disparities Collaboratives
(HDCs) were developed to transform primary health care practices
to improve quality and eliminate health disparities. HDCs
have focused on diabetes, asthma, depression, cardiovascular
disease, cancer screening/planned care, finance/redesign,
prevention, diabetes prevention, perinatal/patient safety,
and oral health. Over 85 percent of health centers have
participated in the HDCs as of April 2007.
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TABLE: Health Centers Supported by the Bureau of Primary Health Care
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