Amy Barkin (right) celebrates with RADM Arthur Lawrence from the Office of the Secretary, HHS.

July 7: HRSA renewed $7.2 million in annual operating grants to State Offices of Rural Health to act as the eyes and ears of the nation’s rural health care system — which serves the most geographically isolated communities in the country.

July 2: HRSA announced more than $4.9 million in grants to support diagnostic and treatment services for an estimated 30,000 men and women with hemophilia and other inherited bleeding disorders.

June 26: More than 100 students attending the 2008 National African American Youth Initiative heard several HRSA officials, including HRSA Administrator Elizabeth Duke and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Tanya Raggio, address the topic: “A Public Health Care Professional’s Perspective to Staying Healthy and Balancing the Demands of Cancer.” Every year the initiative motivates young African Americans to pursue a career in the health professions and gives them the opportunity to meet with and talk to prominent agency officials and leaders in the health field.

June 24: A new report released by HRSA describes how HRSA-funded health centers improve the lives of the more than 16 million people they treat each year. Using personal stories, examples and background statistics, Health Centers: America’s Primary Care Safety Net Reflections on Success, 2002-2007, details the broad reach of HRSA health centers across the country.

June 24: CAPT Amy C. Barkin’s retirement from the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps was celebrated at the National Naval Medical Center campus in Bethesda. CAPT Barkin, a social worker, retired after 30 years in public health, the last 26 at HRSA.