[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 86 (Monday, May 5, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23728-23731]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-10934]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICE

Health Resources and Services Administration


HRSA-03-099 Fiscal Year 2003 Competitive Cycle for the 
Bioterrorism Training and Curriculum Development Program (BTCDP) 93.996

AGENCY: Health Resources and Services Administration, HHS.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Health Resources and Services Administration announces 
that cooperative agreement applications will be accepted for the 
Bioterrorism Training and Curriculum Development Program for Fiscal 
Year 2003.
    Purpose: The Bioterrorism Training and Curriculum Development 
Program consists of two discrete goals: (1) Provision of Continuing 
Education for practicing providers; and (2) Curricular Enhancement in 
health professions schools. Each area requires a separate application 
for funds.
    Cooperative Agreements will be awarded to assist eligible entities 
to prepare a workforce of healthcare professionals to address the 
medical consequences of bioterrorism and other public health emergency 
preparedness and response issues. In this context, ``other public 
health emergencies'' includes other forms of terrorism (such as use of 
chemical, explosive, incendiary, or nuclear agents against the civilian 
population) as well as natural disasters and catastrophic accidents. 
Specifically, the goal of this program is the development of a 
healthcare workforce that possesses the knowledge, skills and abilities 
to: (1) Recognize indications of a terrorist event; (2) meet the acute 
care needs of patients, including pediatric and other vulnerable 
populations, in a safe and appropriate manner; (3) participate in a 
coordinated, multidisciplinary response to terrorist events and other 
public health emergencies; and (4) rapidly and effectively alert the 
public health system of such an event at the community, State, and 
national level.
    Healthcare professionals provide a pivotal link to their 
communities. They disseminate accurate, responsible, trustworthy, and 
timely health related information to the public-at-large. This crucial 
component of the emergency response network helps to mitigate mortality 
and morbidity and to preserve public order while using resources 
effectively and efficiently. These professionals must be provided with 
the essential information needed to quickly identify a terrorist event; 
appropriately treat/respond to those in need of acute care; rapidly 
report such events to the public health authorities at the local, State 
and national levels, and participate in a coordinated and 
multidisciplinary response. The ability to meet the population's needs 
for acute

[[Page 23729]]

care during a public health emergency is dependent upon the rapid and 
coordinated efforts of appropriate community providers and local and 
State public health response systems.
    Effective responses to public health emergencies require close 
collaboration among healthcare providers, medical specialists and other 
health professionals involved in patient care, the public health 
system, and the emergency response system. To achieve such a 
collaborative environment, it will be necessary to implement new models 
of undergraduate/graduate curricula and continuing education for health 
professionals that broaden public health knowledge and ensure that 
essential multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary collaborative 
responses to emergencies will occur.
    It is expected that the training supported with these funds will 
involve a two-tiered approach--that will not only provide the 
discipline specific knowledge, skills and abilities needed to 
recognize, treat, and efficiently report instances of a terrorist 
event, but also will prepare the learners to participate in a 
multidisciplinary terrorist response. Each course of study shall 
include both discipline appropriate clinically oriented material and 
the team collaboration/coordination needed to respond to terrorist 
events. These activities will outline the integrated professional roles 
and responsibilities inherent in a community response and may include 
participation in drills, exercises and/or simulations.
    Authorizing Legislation: These applications are solicited under 
section 319F(g) of the Public Health Service Act as amended by section 
105 of the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Response Act of 
2002, Pub. L. 107-188 and the Consolidated Appropriations Resolution, 
2003 (Public Law 108-7), which provides approximately $26 million to 
support the training of a workforce of healthcare professionals to 
address Bioterrorism and other public health emergencies.
    1. Eligible Applicants for Continuing Education: The entities 
eligible to apply for this program are academic health centers; other 
public or private nonprofit accredited or licensed health professions 
schools; other educational entities such as professional organizations 
and societies; private accrediting organizations; other nonprofit 
institutions or entities including faith-based organizations and 
community'based organizations; and multi-state or multi-institutional 
consortia of various combinations of these eligible entities.
    (a) The applicant must demonstrate the ability to provide training 
to the full range of health care providers in an entire State, in a 
region of a State, or in a multi-State region, either by its own 
efforts or through partnerships or subcontracts.
    (b) Applicants shall demonstrate, through programmatic descriptions 
and letters of support, linkages and relationships with entities that 
provide emergency preparedness and response training, including but not 
limited to the State Designated Agency for Emergency Preparedness, HRSA 
Hospital Preparedness Program awardees, the CDC Health Preparedness and 
Response for Bioterrorism Program awardees and the Metropolitan Medical 
Response System Participants. A comprehensive coordinated multi-
disciplinary approach must be undertaken to effectively meet the needs 
without replication and redundancy.
    (c) Applicants must establish and maintain a programmatic advisory 
board with members including representatives from the HRSA Hospital 
Preparedness Program, the CDC Public Health Preparedness and Response 
for Bioterrorism Program, an academic health center, other health 
professions schools, and both health service providers and consumers 
from the area served by the program. This advisory board shall meet no 
less than twice a year.

Targeted Trainees

    The targeted trainees are both hospital and community-based health 
care providers, including, but not limited to, those serving in public 
and private hospitals, Community Health Centers, Migrant Health 
Centers, Federally Qualified Health Centers, National Health Service 
Corps sites, and private and group practice.

  Estimated Number of Continuing Education Health Professions Trainees
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                 Annual
                                                               number to
                      Target profession                            be
                                                                trained
------------------------------------------------------------------------
NHSC Providers...............................................        500
Health Center Administrators.................................        500
Allied Health Providers......................................      5,000
Nursing......................................................     10,000
Medicine.....................................................     10,000
Nurse Practitioners..........................................      1,000
Physician Assistants.........................................      1,000
Dentists.....................................................      1,000
Pharmacists..................................................      1,250
Mental Health Providers......................................      1,500
Public Health Providers......................................      1,000
Others to include EMS and Veterinarians......................      5,250
                                                              ----------
    Total....................................................     38,000
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In selecting from among the most highly ranked applications, 
efforts will be made to balance awards to achieve broad professional 
and geographical distribution.
    2. Eligible Applicants for Curricular Enhancement: The entities 
eligible to apply for this program are public or private nonprofit 
accredited or licensed health professions schools; other educational 
entities such as professional organizations and societies; and other 
nonprofit institutions or entities including faith-based organizations 
and community-based organizations. Eligible entities, if not a health 
professions school, must include in their application the participation 
(i.e., through partnerships/subcontracts) of such a school to implement 
the curricular enhancement. In selecting from among the most highly 
ranked applications, efforts will be made to balance the distribution 
of awards across the following types of health professions schools: 
Medicine, Nursing, Mental Health, Allied Health, and others. These 
awards will develop best practice models by piloting both the 
professionally specific curriculum and the curriculum enhancement 
process to be widely disseminated to other academic institutions across 
the country upon project completion.
    Applicants shall demonstrate through programmatic descriptions and 
letters of support that the funds awarded will be utilized to support 
multidisciplinary training consisting of no fewer than three health 
care disciplines.
    Awardees will:
    1. Adapt/refine existing curricula or if necessary, develop new 
curriculum addressing their students' knowledge, skills and abilities 
to:
    (a) Recognize indications of a terrorist event in their patients;
    (b) Provide acute care in a safe and appropriate manner;
    (c) Rapidly and effectively alert the public health system of such 
an event at the community, State, and national level; and
    (d) Coordinate their response as part of a multi-disciplinary team 
approach to a terrorist event.

[[Page 23730]]

    2. Pilot and evaluate the curriculum; and
    3. Incorporate the training into their required overall curriculum 
within two years.

Federal Involvement

    Federal: Division of State, Community and Public Health, AHEC 
Branch staff will:
    [sbull] Review all changes to the composition of all advisory 
committees and boards;
    [sbull] Participate in an annual evaluation of the cooperative 
agreement program;
    [sbull] Assist in planning and implementing project priorities by 
coordinating and facilitating the interchange technical and program 
information;
    [sbull] Assist project staff in the development, compilation and 
dissemination of materials prepared by project personnel;
    [sbull] Review for programmatic content all contracts and 
agreements among recipient medical or osteopathic schools, other health 
professional schools and community-based centers (unless such reviews 
are formally delegated to the recipient cooperating school); and
    [sbull] Provide guidance concerning the content, structure and form 
of the annual progress report and final project report.

Funding Priorities and/or Preference

    None.

Statutory Matching or Cost Sharing Requirement

    None.

Administrative Special Consideration

    Special consideration will be given to applicants who (a) develop 
new and innovative approaches to education and training using distance 
learning methodologies/telehealth, or (b) enhance or expand existing 
distance learning educational programs with the purpose of preparing 
health professionals and health professional students to deliver 
quality health care in medically underserved communities. A special 
consideration is another factor considered in making funding decisions 
that is neither a review criterion, preference, nor priority.

Review Criteria

    Applications will be reviewed by a panel of peer reviewers using 
the following criteria:
    (1) Purpose, Need and Rationale: The extent to which the purpose is 
consistent with the legislative purpose and is clearly described and 
the extent to which the need for the proposed project is thoroughly 
documented;
    (2) Project Effectiveness: The extent to which potential 
effectiveness of the proposed project in carrying out the education 
purposes of the Bioterrorism Training and Curriculum Development 
Program is clearly described;
    (3) Project Plan: The extent to which the project plan is clearly 
articulated and specifies measurable outcome objectives which are 
attainable within the stated time frame;
    (4) Linkages and Collaborative Efforts: The degree to which the 
applicant describes a comprehensive coordinated multidisciplinary 
approach to the training of health professionals;
    (5) Project Management: The extent that the applicant identifies 
activities and outcomes that are related to the outcome objectives 
given the proposed level of staff, resources available, length of the 
project period and institutional eligibility; and
    (6) Fiscal Plan: The extent to which the fiscal plan describes the 
effective use of funds and resources to carry out the project.

Estimated Amount of Available Funds

    It is estimated that $26 million will be available for fiscal year 
2003.

Estimated Number of Awards

    It is estimated that the number of awards may vary for Continuing 
Education from 15-25.
    It is estimated that the number of awards may vary for the 
Curricular Enhancement from 10-12.

Estimated Average Size of Each Award

    It is estimated that the average size of each award for Continuing 
Education may range from $900,000 to $1,500,000.
    It is estimated that the average size of each award for Curricular 
Enhancement may range from $300,000 to $400,000.

Estimated Project Period

    Applications will be submitted for two years. The first budget 
period will be September 1, 2003 to August 31, 2004; the second budget 
period will be September 1, 2004 to August 31, 2005, subject to the 
availability of funds and evaluation of recipient performance.

Application Requests, Availability, Deadline and Addresses

    Application materials are available for downloading via the web at 
http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/grants/default.htm. Applicants may also request a 
hard copy of the application material by contacting the HRSA Grants 
Application Center, Grants Management Office, 901 Russell Avenue, Suite 
450, Gaithersburg, MD 20879 or by calling (877) 477-2123 or by Fax at 
1-877-477-2345. In order to be considered for competition, applications 
must be postmarked or submitted to the address listed above by the due 
date of June 16, 2003. Applicants should request a legibly dated U.S. 
Postal postmark or obtain a legibly dated receipt from a commercial 
carrier or U.S. Postal Service. Private metered postmarks shall not be 
acceptable as proof of timely mailing. An application receipt will not 
be provided. Applications submitted after the deadline date will be 
returned to the applicant and not processed. Applicants should note 
that HRSA anticipates accepting grant applications online in the last 
quarter of the Fiscal Year (July through September). Please refer to 
the HRSA grants schedule at http://www.hrsa.gov/grants.htm for more 
information.
    Projected Award Date: September 30, 2003.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lynn Rothberg Wegman, Division of 
State, Community and Public Health, Bureau of Health Professions, HRSA, 
Room 9-105, Parklawn Building, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, Maryland 
20857. Ms. Wegman's telephone number is 301-443-1648.
    Additional Information: Technical Assistance Workshops will be 
conducted at the following locations: Atlanta, GA; Boston, MA; Chicago, 
IL; Dallas, TX; Denver, CO; San Francisco, CA; and Washington, DC. 
Additional details, including the specific Dates for the workshops, may 
be obtained via the web at http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/grants/default.htm. 
Attendance at the workshops is optional and at the expense of the 
participant. Registration is required and may be completed by 
contacting Karen L. Ellis at (301) 315-2806 and Maria Smith at (301) 
315-2844 or by registering on line at http://meetings.Z-techcorp.com/meetings.
    Paperwork Reduction Act: The Application for the Bioterrorism 
Training and Curriculum Development Program has been approved by the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction 
Act. Should any data collection associated with the evaluation of this 
cooperative agreement fall under the purview of the Paperwork Reduction 
Act, OMB clearance will be sought. The OMB clearance number is 00915-
0060.
    The program is not subject to the provision of Executive Order 
12372, Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs (as implemented 
through 45 CFR part 100).


[[Page 23731]]


    Dated: April 18, 2003.
Elizabeth M. Duke,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 03-10934 Filed 5-2-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4165-15-P