The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently recognized two organizations that are using the CMS Framework for Health Equity to help reduce disparities in healthcare access, quality and outcomes, with the 2024 Health Equity Awards. The winners are Pennsylvania-based Latino Connection and Virginia-based Augusta Health.
In previous years, CMS recognized organizations that have demonstrated a strong commitment to health equity by reducing disparities that affect vulnerable populations, such as racial and ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, sexual and gender minorities, people with limited proficiency of English, members of rural and tribal communities. , geographically isolated communities and other people affected by persistent poverty and inequality.
Latino Connection, based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, was recognized for its Community Accessible Education and Testing (CATE) initiative. In 2014, George Fernandez founded Latino Connection as a community organization in the heart of Pennsylvania to create and activate programs in low-income communities to address all aspects of the social determinants of health.
The organization’s Community Accessible Testing and Education (CATE) initiative was launched in response to the COVID-19 pandemic with the goal of addressing disparities in access to essential resources and education among underserved communities. As Latino Connection is the first Latino and LGBTQ+ organization to launch such a program, CATE represents an innovative effort to provide critical support to populations disproportionately affected by the pandemic, including minorities, low-income individuals, LGBTQ+ communities, and those who They reside in urban areas. .
CATE has reached thousands of Pennsylvanians with life-saving education and resources. Between 2020 and 2022, nearly 9,000 COVID-19 tests and more than 17,000 vaccines were administered across the state, particularly in vulnerable and underserved communities that would not have otherwise had access. CATE also provided 500 flu vaccines and 10,000 PPE kits, resources and education in both English and Spanish to the more than 37,000 people who attended all of its community events combined.
Augusta Health is an independent, not-for-profit, 255-bed hospital serving the communities of Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley in a semi-rural setting. Embracing its vision of being “a national model for community health care,” Augusta Health reaches neighborhoods with rural geographic barriers and local cities with high rates of poverty and adverse health and social barriers. One of the ways they are responding to acute deficits in access to health care in the community is through the implementation and growth of their Mobile Primary Care Clinic program (today known as Augusta Neighborhood Health Clinics).
Since officially launching in September 2022, the Mobile Primary Care Clinic program has expanded to operate at 14 unique sites each month. The sites include community centers, churches, a fire station, the mayor’s office and homeless shelters. Neighborhood selection is based on identifying the communities most in need through analysis using the University of Wisconsin Area Deprivation Index (ADI) score and mapping techniques. Based on the analyses, the key component to its success is having community partners with local expertise in key social services such as housing and food insecurity.
During the first full year of the program, the Primary Mobile Clinic has provided more than 1,700 primary care visits for 825 patients at 17 different community sites. Services vary by location and are based on community needs.
Previous recipients of the CMS Health Equity Award include HealthPartners, Centene Corp., Kaiser Permanente and Novant Health.
