Area Health Education Centers Infrastructure Development Awards

 

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care act, Public Law 111-148, amended the PHS Act, Section 751, Area Health Education Centers. The required program activities in the amended legislation embrace the following goals to: (1) educate and train students to become culturally competent primary care health professionals who will provide healthcare in underserved areas and to health disparity populations; (2) increase the number and variety of primary care health professionals who provide care to underserved populations in Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) and other medically underserved areas; and (3) recruit into health careers individuals from underrepresented minority populations or from disadvantaged or rural backgrounds. The AHEC Infrastructure Development (AHEC-ID) awards consist of cooperative agreements with accredited schools of medicine and nursing, to assist the schools to improve the distribution, diversity, supply, and quality of health personnel in the health services delivery system, and to attract and retain health personnel in underserved areas. The AHEC awardees link the academic resources of medical schools and participating health profession schools with local educational and clinical sites, and thereby establish a network of primary care oriented community-based training sites to provide educational services to health profession students, faculty-preceptors and health care providers in underserved areas, and ultimately to improve the delivery of health care in an underserved region or in an entire state. Grantees shall allocate not less than 75 percent of the award to AHEC centers to coordinate community-based training and interdisciplinary/interprofessional training in underserved areas and for health disparity populations. AHEC health careers recruitment activities shall be coordinated, where feasible, with Department of Labor workforce investment boards, and shall include an emphasis on careers in public health. Interdisciplinary/interprofessional training shall involve physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, nurse midwives, dentists, psychologists, pharmacists, optometrists, community health workers, public health and allied health professionals, as practicable.

Deleted 04/02/2020 (Archived.) 93.824 Agency: Department of Health and Human Services
Office: Health Resources and Services Administration Project Grants Not Applicable. Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 294a), Title VII, Section 751(a) (1), as amended by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, Public Law 111-148, Section 5403. Eligible applicants for Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) Program cooperative agreements under Section 751(a)(1) include public or private nonprofit accredited schools of medicine and osteopathic medicine and incorporated consortia made up of such schools, or the parent institutions of such schools. Also, in States in which no AHEC program is in operation, an accredited school of nursing is an eligible applicant. Beneficiaries include a full range of trainees: high school students from underrepresented minority populations or disadvantaged or rural backgrounds, health professions students, faculty and practitioners. Applicants should review the individual HRSA funding opportunity announcement issued under this CFDA program for any required proof or certifications which must be submitted with an application package. 2 CFR 200, Subpart E - Cost Principles applies to this program. Preapplication coordination is not applicable. Environmental impact information is not required for this program. This program is eligible for coverage under E.O. 12372, "Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs." An applicant should consult the office or official designated as the single point of contact in his or her State for more information on the process the State requires to be followed in applying for assistance, if the State has selected the program for review. 2 CFR 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards applies to this program. HRSA requires all applicants to apply electronically through Grants.gov.

All eligible, qualified applications will be forwarded to an objective review committee. Based on the advice of the objective review committee, the HRSA program official with delegated authority is responsible for final selection and funding decisions. Notification is made in writing by a Notice of Award.
Notification of award is made in writing (electronic) through a Notice of Award.

When making final funding decisions regarding Section 751 awards, consideration will be given to the “Sense of the Congress that there be an area health education center program in each state”. Contact the headquarters or regional office, as appropriate, for application deadlines. From 120 to 180 days. Not Applicable. Depending on Agency priorities and availability of funding, during the final budget year of the approved project period competing continuation applications may be solicited from interested applicants. Procedures for assessing the technical merit of grant applications have been instituted to provide an objective review of applications and to assist the applicant in understanding the standards against which each application will be judged. Critical indicators have been developed for each review criterion to assist the applicant in presenting pertinent information related to that criterion and to provide the reviewer with a standard for evaluation. Competing applications are reviewed by non-Federal expert consultant(s) for technical merit recommendations. Applications will be reviewed and evaluated against the following criteria: (1) Purpose and Need; (2) Response to Program Purpose; (3) Impact; (4) Organizational Information, Resources and Capabilities; and (5) Support Requested. See the most recent Funding Opportunity Announcement for detailed selection criteria. Restricted Uses: Indirect costs under training awards to organizations other than State, local or American Indian tribal governments will be budgeted and reimbursed at 8 percent of modified total direct costs rather than on the basis of a negotiated rate agreement, and are not subject to upward or downward adjustment.

Funds shall be used to recruit individuals from underrepresented, disadvantaged, or rural backgrounds into the health professions; establish and maintain community based placements or preceptorships with an emphasis on primary care; conduct interdisciplinary/interprofessional training involving an array of health professionals; deliver or facilitate continuing education; propose and implement outcomes measurement and evaluation strategies. Not less than 75 percent of the total amount provided to an AHEC program under subsection 751(a) (1) shall be allocated to the AHEC centers participating in the program.

The aggregate amount of awards to schools in the state for the fiscal year under Infrastructure Development AHEC authority shall not be less than $250,000 per AHEC center, including program office funds. If amounts appropriated to carry out Section 751 are not sufficient to comply with the amount stated in the preceding sentence, the Secretary may reduce the per center amount as necessary. The recipient will be required to submit semi-annual performance and annual progress reports. A Federal Financial Report (SF-425) is required according to the schedule in HRSA’s Application Guide. A final report is due within 90 days after the project period ends. If applicable, the recipient must submit a Tangible Personal Property Report (SF-428) and any related forms within 90 days after the project period ends. New awards (“Type 1”) issued under this funding opportunity announcement are subject to the reporting requirements of the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA) of 2006 (Pub. L. 109–282), as amended by section 6202 of Public Law 110–252, and implemented by 2 CFR Part 170. Grant and cooperative agreement recipients must report information for each first-tier subaward of $25,000 or more in federal funds and executive total compensation for the recipient’s and subrecipient’s five most highly compensated executives as outlined in Appendix A to 2 CFR Part 170 (The FFATA details are available online at http://www.hrsa.gov/grants/ffata.html). Competing continuation recipients, etc. may be subject to this requirement and will be so notified in the Notice of Award. Cash reports are not applicable. Progress reports are not applicable. No expenditure reports are required. No performance monitoring is required. In accordance with the provisions of 2 CFR 200, Subpart F - Audit Requirements, non-Federal entities that expend financial assistance of $750,000 or more in Federal awards will have a single or a program-specific audit conducted for that year. Non-Federal entities that expend less than $750,000 a year in Federal awards are exempt from Federal audit requirements for that year, except as noted in 2 CFR 200.503. Recipients are required to maintain grant accounting records 3 years from the date they submit the FFR. If any litigation, claim, negotiation, audit or other action involving the award has been started before the expiration of the 3-year period, the records shall be retained until completion of the action and resolution of all issues which arise from it, or until the end of the regular 3-year period, whichever is later. Statutory formulas are not applicable to this program.
Matching Requirements: Percent: 50.%. With respect to the costs of operating a program through a grant under section 751, to be eligible for assistance under section 751, an entity shall make available (directly or through contributions from state, county or municipal governments or the private sector) recurring nonfederal contributions in cash or in kind toward such costs in an amount that is equal to not less that 50 percent of such costs. Thus, the matching ratio for AHEC awards is 1:1 (federal funds to non-federal contributions. At least 25 percent of the total required non-federal contributions shall be in cash. The Secretary may grant a waiver for up to 75 percent of the amount required in the first three years in which an awardee receives funds under this section: Section 751 (a) (1) of the PHS Act, as amended.

This program has Maintenance of Effort (MOE) requirements. The recipient must agree to maintain non-federal funding for grant activities at a level which is not less than expenditures for such activities during the fiscal year prior to receiving the award.
This program has MOE requirements, see funding agency for further details. This funding opportunity provides support for a five year project period. See the following for information on how assistance is awarded. See the following for information on how assistance is awarded/released: Recipients draw down funds, as necessary, from the Payment Management System (PMS). PMS is the centralized web based payment system for HHS awards. See Regional Agency Offices. Jamie Weng, Project Officer, Health Careers Pipeline Branch, Division of Health Careers and Financial Support , Bureau of Health Workforce, Health Resources and Services Administration, Department of Health and Human Services, 5600 Fishers Lane, Parklawn Building, Room 9C-15, Rockville, MD 20857, Email: JWeng@hrsa.gov, Phone: (301) 443-6950.

Aleisha Langhorne, Project Officer, Health Careers Pipeline Branch, Division of Health Careers and Financial Support , Bureau of Health Workforce Health Resources and Services Administration, Department of Health and Human Services, 5600 Fishers Lane, Parklawn Building, Room 9C-15, Rockville, MD 20857, Email: ALanghorne@hrsa.gov, Phone: (301) 443-6950. Meseret Bezuneh 5600 Fishers Lane, Room 9C-15, Rockville, Maryland 20857 Email: mbezuneh@hrsa.gov Phone: (301) 443-6950 http://bhw.hrsa.gov/grants/areahealtheducationcenters/index.html 75-0350-0-1-550. (Project Grants) FY 14 $6,228,990; FY 15 est $5,104,000; and FY 16 est $5,104,000 FY 14 Actual $232,000 to $1,856,000; Average award amount $778,624

FY 15 Est. $232,000 to $1,856,000; Average award $891,946

FY 16 Est. $232,000 to $1,856,000; Average award $891,946. All administrative and audit requirements and the cost principles that govern Federal monies associated with this activity will be subject to the Uniform Guidance 2 CFR 200 as codified by HHS at 45 CFR 75. HRSA awards are also subject to the requirements of the HHS Grants Policy Statement (HHS GPS) that are applicable based on recipient type and purpose of award. The HHS GPS is available at http://www.hrsa.gov/grants. This program is subject to the provisions of 45 CFR Part 92 for state, local and tribal governments and 45 CFR Part 74 for institutions of higher education, hospitals, other nonprofit organizations, and commercial organizations.

HRSA awards are also subject to the requirements of the HHS Grants Policy Statement (HHS GPS) that are applicable based on recipient type and purpose of award. The HHS GPS is available at http://www.hrsa.gov/grants.
Not Applicable.