HHS awards $73 million to strengthen public health IT, boost workforce

The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) awarded $73 million in cooperative agreements to 10 academic institutions last week through its Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) to foster more public health information technology workers.

The 10 awardees, which include Historical Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) and other minority-serving institutions and higher education institutions, consist of:

• Bowie State University
• California State University, Long Beach Research Foundation
• Dominican College of Blauvelt, Inc.
• Jackson State University
• Norfolk State University
• Regents of The University of Minnesota
• The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
• University of Massachusetts at Lowell
• University of California, Irvine
• University of the District of Columbia

“While we work to tackle the pandemic, we won’t take our foot off the gas when it comes to preparing for any future public health challenges,” HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said. “Thanks to the American Rescue Plan, we can invest in growing our nation’s public health workforce today to better meet the needs of tomorrow. And as we work to expand talent, whether it’s in the field of technology or public health informatics, we will do so with an eye towards promoting diversity.”

All funding comes from the American Rescue Plan, and in addition to boosting the IT workforce, the effort aims to improve COVID-19 data collection and increase workforce diversity. These respective workplaces will form various consortia to train more than 4,000 new workers over four years, utilizing an interdisciplinary approach for public health informatics and technology. They will create curricula, run recruitment and training, secure paid internship opportunities and assist with career placement.