[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 93 (Friday, May 13, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29870-29871]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-11413]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Health Resources and Services Administration


Health Center Program

AGENCY: Health Resources and Services Administration, HHS.

ACTION: Notice of Class Deviations from the Requirements for 
Competition and Application Period for the Health Center Program.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Grants Policy and Administration Manual 
(GPAM) Part F: Chapter 2.b.34 and Part F: Chapter 3.b.16, the Bureau of 
Primary Health Care (BPHC) has been granted class deviations from the 
requirements for competition contained in the GPAM Part F: Chapter 
2.a.1 and the requirements for application period contained in the GPAM 
Part F: Chapter 3.b.3 to expeditiously award funds to new health 
centers to improve access to services and clinical outcomes for the 
nation's most vulnerable populations through the patient centered 
medical home model.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Intended Recipient of the Award: Health Center Program award 
recipients receiving Health Center Program funding for the first time 
in fiscal years (FYs) 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015.
    Amount of Competitive Awards: Approximately $10 million will be 
awarded in FY 2016 through a one-time supplement.
    Period of Supplemental Funding: Anticipated 12 month project period 
is August 1, 2016, through July 31, 2017.

CFDA Number: 93.224

    Authority:  Section 330 of the Public Health Service Act, as 
amended (42 U.S.C. 254b, as amended).

    Justification: Targeting the nation's neediest populations and 
geographic areas, the Health Center Program supports more than 1,300 
health centers that operate over 9,000 service delivery sites in every 
state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and 
the Pacific Basin. Nearly 23 million patients received comprehensive, 
culturally competent, quality primary health care services through the 
Health Center Program award recipients in 2014.
    The FY 2016 Health Center Program Patient Centered Medical Home 
Supplement is a one-time supplemental funding opportunity that supports 
the upfront costs new Health Center Program award recipients face to 
become patient centered medical homes. Organizational transformation to 
achieve initial and more advanced levels of patient centered medical 
home recognition is costly. As of September 2015, data show that among 
the health centers eligible for this award only approximately 20 
percent have achieved patient centered medical home recognition 
compared to 65 percent across all health centers. The

[[Page 29871]]

discrepancy suggests the efficacy of BPHC's past investments in FY 2011 
and FY 2012 that supported health centers funded before FY 2012 achieve 
patient centered medical home recognition. The FY 2016 Health Center 
Program Patient Centered Medical Home Supplement is the first funding 
not tied to capital improvements that BPHC has offered to support 
health centers' evolution to patient centered medical homes since FY 
2012.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Olivia Shockey, Expansion Division 
Director, Office of Policy and Program Development, Bureau of Primary 
Health Care, Health Resources and Services Administration at 301-443-
9282 or [email protected].

    Dated: May 5, 2016.
James Macrae,
Acting Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2016-11413 Filed 5-12-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4165-15-P