As part of the Energy Conservation Stimulus monies the Arizona State Lab has applied for approximately $400,000 for a project that would significantly reduce utility costs at the lab by adding an evaporative cooler to the front end of the airhandling intake system. This would decrease cooling costs (at certain times of the year) by reducing the temperature of the incoming air. Also the project would include a reheat coil which would allow the lab air handling system to recover cooling from exhausted air in the summer and recover heat from exhausted air in the winter. These funds are awarded through the Department of Energy and being distributed to states through the Western Area Power Authority.

The Association of Public Health Labs will also be applying for Federal Health Information Technology monies (approximately $60 million) to distribute to public health labs so they can put a Laboratory Information Management System (also known as a LIMS system) with electronic reporting in each State Public Health lab.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) will be receiving $300 million from ARRA money to ensure more underserved Americans receive the vaccines they need.  Of this $300 million, $250 million will be used by the states for the existing Section 317 Grant Program.  Arizona will be receiving $3,741,938 of these funds. 

An additional $18 million of the $300 million will be distributed in grants to grantees of the Section 317 Program who demonstrate innovative approaches to increase the number of Americans who receive the childhood vaccine series, zoster vaccine, and influenza vaccine, and for improving reimbursement practices.
The remaining $32 million will also be distributed in grant form and used to increase information, communication and education and strengthen the evidence base for immunization.
ADHS plans to submit applications for both grant opportunities.

More information on this program can be found at: http://www.hhs.gov/recovery/programs/cdc/immunizationgrant.html
http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2009pres/04/20090409a.html

All state award amounts can be found at: http://transparency.cit.nih.gov/RecoveryGrants/grant.cfm?grant=vaccines

ARRA provides $1 billion for Prevention and Wellness. It has not yet been determined how these funds will reach the states.

HHS announced $338M in "Demand for Services" grants to Federally Qualified Community Health Centers as part of ARRA. The grants are titled "Increased Demand for Services" (IDS) grants, and will be going to 1,128 federally qualified health center grantees. Details are available at http://www.hhs.gov/recovery/.

There are 16 awardees in Arizona with a total award of about $5.6M. The list of awards are available at http://www.hhs.gov/recovery/programs/hrsa/arizona.html.

The ARRA provides $50 million in funding to address Hospital Acquired Infections (HAIs).  According to testimony provided by HHS at the April 1 hearing of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, $40 million will distributed by the CDC to be used to aid states in supporting activities outlined in the HHS Action Plan.  Some of these activities will include:

• Creating or expanding state-based HAI prevention collaboratives;
• Enhancing states abilities to assess where HAIs are occurring and to evaluate the impact of hospital-based interventions in other healthcare settings; and
• Building a public health workforce in health departments who can lead state-wide initiatives to ensure progress towards the national targets in the HHS Action Plan.

According to testimony given by the CDC at the same hearing, in the funding solicitation to states for ARRA funds, there will be specific guidance that they can choose stimulus monies to develop their HAI reduction plans, detect and report HAI Data, or establish a prevention collaborative.  States may choose 2 of the 3 categories.

The remaining $10 million will be used by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to roll out a new infection control survey tool for Ambulatory Surgical Centers.   

Testimony from the April 1 hearing can be found at: http://appropriations.house.gov/Subcommittees/sub_lhhse.shtml

ARRA provides a focus on the training of primary healthcare providers including doctors, dentists and nurses by expanding the National Health Service Corp Loan Repayment, National Scholar Program and State Loan Repayment Programs. These programs require national competition for funding. Funding schedule opportunities are not known at this time, however, ADHS will have the opportunity to compete for supplemental funding to expand the State Loan Repayment Program. To be eligible for federal money the State Loan Repayment Program requires a 1 to 1 dollar for dollar match.

ADHS will receive approximately $12 million in additional WIC funding for food from the stimulus package. Arizona’s program has also been approved for $640,000 for equipment for database conversion. Work is currently taking place to prepare an application to USDA to request funding for the improvement of the 7th Avenue WIC clinic.