TFAH Statement on Community Transformation Grants: Good for America's Health

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Sep 27, 2011, 02:25 ET

WASHINGTON, Sept. 27, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Trust for America's Health (TFAH) applauds the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for announcing the Community Transformation Grants (CTGs) to states and communities. CTGs were created as part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and supported through the Prevention and Public Health Fund.

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The following is a statement from Jeff Levi, PhD, Executive Director of TFAH, and Chair of the Advisory Group on Prevention, Health Promotion, and Integrative and Public Health.

"Today's announcement of the Community Transformation Grant awards is a tremendous step in the right direction for the health of Americans. With 23 capacity building grants and 36 regular grants, communities across the country are getting the support they need to concentrate on top preventive priorities including smoking cessation, active living and healthy eating, high-impact quality clinical and other preventive services (specifically prevention and control of high blood pressure and high cholesterol), social and emotional wellness, and healthy and safe physical environments.

Community Transformation Grants represent a groundbreaking approach to health in the United States - transforming our focus from treating people only after they've become sick to finding ways to keep them healthier in the first place. With millions of Americans suffering from preventable diseases, two-thirds of Americans overweight or obese, and 20 percent of adults and teens smoking, we need to take measures to bend the disease curve in this country. Investing in prevention can help spare millions of Americans from developing serious, preventable diseases and reduce billions of dollars in health care costs. CTGs are an investment in the future health and wealth of the country.

The fact that 214 communities applied for these grants demonstrates the strong interest and major need for this program. The recent proposal to cut $3.5 billion from the Prevention and Public Health Fund - a 25 percent reduction in this new investment in prevention by FY15 - as part of the President's Plan for Economic Growth and Deficit Reduction would be short-sighted both for preventing disease and reducing health care costs in the long run.

On the other hand, we were pleased that both the President and Senate have proposed major increases in the CTGs for the next fiscal year. It will be important to maintain funding and get CTGs to communities faster in 2012 - the sooner resources are distributed the sooner lives are improved and saved. These communities are ready to get to work."

Today's grants have been awarded to:

Implementation States and Communities (N=35)	Award Amount

Broward Regional Health Planning Council (Florida)	$1,766,476
City of Austin Health & Human Services Department (Texas)	$1,026,158
County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency (California)	$3,053,793
Denver Health and Hospital Authority (Colorado)	$610,345
Douglas County Health Department (Nebraska)	$510,199
Hennepin County Human Services and Public Health Department (Minnesota)	$1,156,212
Illinois Department of Public Health	$4,781,121
Iowa Department of Public Health	$3,007,856
Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (California)	$9,848,011
Louisville Metro Department of Public Health and Wellness (Kentucky)	$721,594
Maine Department of Health and Human Services/Maine CDC	$1,318,301
Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene	$1,945,289
Massachusetts Department of Public Health (to serve state minus large counties)	$1,505,006
Massachusetts Department of Public Health (to serve Middlesex County)	$1,574,982
Mid-America Regional Council Community Services Corporation (Missouri)	$705,708
Minnesota Department of Health	$3,603,724
Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services	$769,195
New Mexico Department of Health	$1,500,000
North Carolina Division of Public Health	$7,466,092
Oklahoma City-County Health Department (Oklahoma)	$716,704
Philadelphia Department of Public Health (Pennsylvania)	$1,547,297
Public Health Institute (to serve the state of California minus large counties)	$5,926,365
San Francisco Department of Public Health (California)	$815,358
Sault Ste Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians (Michigan)	$500,000
South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control	$4,624,724
South Dakota Department of Health	$812,383
Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (Alaska)	$499,588
Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department (Washington)	$796,836
Texas Department of State Health Services	$10,000,000
The Fund for Public Health in New York (New York)	$8,391,881
University Health Services, University of Wisconsin-Madison (Wisconsin)	$4,695,253
University of Rochester Medical Center (New York)	$733,703
Vermont Department of Health	$621,760
Washington State Department of Health	$3,256,347
West Virginia Bureau for Public Health	$1,883,603

Capacity-Building States and Communities (N=26)	Award Amount

Austen BioInnovation Institute (Ohio)	$500,000
Bernalillo County Office of Environmental Health (New Mexico)	$497,353
Cobb Public Health (Georgia)	$499,000
Confederated Tribes of The Chehalis Reservation (Washington)	$498,663
Connecticut Department of Public Health	$493,891
County of Kern, Public Health Services Department (California)	$416,577
Fairfax County Department of Neighborhood and Community Services (Virginia)	$499,559
Fresno County Department of Public Health (California)	$499,695
Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Council, Inc. (Wisconsin)	$499,982
Houston Department of Health & Human Services (Texas)	$500,000
Lancaster General Health (Pennsylvania)	$233,577
Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals	$500,000
My Brother's Keeper Inc. (Mississippi)	$500,000
New Jersey Prevention Network	$500,000
North Dakota Department of Health	$370,684
Public Health-Dayton and Montgomery County (Ohio)	$180,246
Sierra Health Foundation (Sacramento Co., California)	$499,229
Sophie Trettevick Indian Health Center (Washington)	$218,929
Spectrum Health Hospitals (Kent Co., Michigan)	$333,321
Stanislaus County Health Services Agency (California)	$293,899
Toiyabe Indian Health Project (California)	$500,000
Ulkerreuil A Klengar (Republic of Palau)	$147,106
Unlawful Narcotics Investigation Treatment Education, Inc. (Kentucky)	$500,000
Utah Department of Health	$499,366
Ventura County Public Health (California)	$481,036
Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation (Alaska)	$193,340

Trust for America's Health is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to saving lives by protecting the health of every community and working to make disease prevention a national priority. www.healthyamericans.org

SOURCE Trust for America's Health