Instructions for Completing the Project Work Plan
You must submit a 2-year ( May 1, 2021 – April 30, 2023) project work plan describing how you will use American Rescue Plan funding to support participating health centers (PHCs) to leverage health information technology (IT) and data to respond to and mitigate the spread of COVID-19, and enhance health care services and infrastructure within 60 days of award. Upload your U5F project work plan as part of your response to the U5F Award Submission task in your new U5F folder in HRSA’s Electronic Handbooks (EHBs).
Use the template provided by HRSA via email the week of May 3, 2021. Refer to the following guidance when developing your U5F project work plan, in addition to the U5F Award Submission Requirement Guidance.
- HRSA anticipates that project work plans may average 10 pages, but may be fewer or more than 10 pages, as needed to address health center needs in your state or region, in alignment with the U5F funding purpose and commensurate with your award.
- Activities must be consistent with the purpose of U5F funding, and align with the terms of your U5F award and your PCA cooperative agreement (U58) award goals:
- Goal A: Increase access to comprehensive primary care.
- Goal B: Accelerate value-based care delivery.
- Goal C: Foster a workforce to address current and emerging needs.
- Goal D: Enhance emergency preparedness and response.
- Goal E: Advance clinical quality and performance.
- Only include activities supported with U5F federal funding.
- Clearly document any activities that already occurred (back to January 31, 2020) or occurred between the time of award and submission.
Funding must be used to support health centers in your state or region in one or more of the following categories:
- COVID-19 Vaccination Capacity – Plan, prepare for, promote, distribute, administer, and track COVID-19 vaccines, and to carry out other vaccine-related activities, including outreach and education.
- COVID-19 Response and Treatment Capacity – Detect, diagnose, trace, monitor, and treat COVID-19 infections and related activities necessary to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, including outreach and education.
- Maintaining and Increasing Capacity – Establish, modify, enhance, expand, and sustain the accessibility and availability of comprehensive primary care services to meet the ongoing and evolving needs of the service area and vulnerable patient populations.
- Recovery and Stabilization – Ongoing recovery and stabilization, including enhancing and expanding the health care workforce and services to meet pent up demand due to delays in patients seeking preventive and routine care; address the behavioral health, chronic conditions, and other needs of those who have been out of care; and support the well-being of personnel who have been on the front lines of the pandemic.
- Infrastructure – Modify and improve physical infrastructure, including A/R and purchase of mobile units and vehicles, to enhance or expand access to comprehensive primary care services, including costs associated with facilitating access to mobile testing and vaccinations, as well as other primary care activities.
Sample U5F Project Work Plan
The following incomplete example is provided for reference only. Refer to the list of allowable health center uses of funding and example activities when developing your project work plan.
- Identify the category under which you propose to conduct activities.
- Group your activities by category, and include them in separate tables for each proposed category.
OMB No.: 0915-0285. Expiration Date: 3/31/2023
Activity Category: COVID-19 Vaccination Capacity
| Activity Name and Description | Link to U58 Goals (PDF - 100 KB) | Person Responsible | Timeframe |
|---|---|---|---|
| COVID-19 Vaccine Education: Collect and disseminate community and patient educational materials to health centers to promote health center vaccination efforts and support vaccine acceptance among individuals with limited English proficiency. UDS data show 40% of health center patients in the state are best served in a language other than English. Materials will focus on promising practices for reaching individuals with limited English proficiency. We will use resources available in the Health Center Resource Clearinghouse and collaborate with health centers and other community-based organizations in the state focused on serving people with limited English proficiency to leverage available expertise and reduce duplication. | This activity supports Goal A: Increase access to comprehensive primary care. This activity will increase the number of health centers in the state that receive T/TA on promising practices to integrate COVID-19 vaccination efforts into primary care, focusing on individuals with limited English proficiency. | Dr. Jane Smith, quality improvement team lead | May 2021 to September 2021 |
| Expand Enabling Personnel for COVID-19 Education, Testing, and Treatment: Revamp existing job board for the state’s health center COVID-19 job vacancies to easily identify enabling personnel positions (such as community health workers, translators, and eligibility assistance personnel). Once the updated job board is available, deliver a webinar on recruiting and other best practices for leveraging enabling personnel to support increasing COVID-19 vaccinations among patients with limited English proficiency in the state. The webinar will address identifying organizational needs, outreach to prospective enabling personnel candidates, and vetting candidates. | This activity supports Goal C: Foster a workforce to address current and emerging needs. This activity will increase the number of health centers in the state that receive T/TA on workforce planning to increase COVID-19 vaccinations among patients, with a focus on increasing enabling services to better reach those with limited English proficiency. | John Jones, project director | September 2020 to December 2021 |
Activity Category: Maintaining and Increasing Capacity
| Activity Name and Description | Link to U58 Goals (PDF - 100 KB) | Person Responsible | Timeframe |
|---|---|---|---|
| COVID-19 BH Peer Group: Coordinate a peer-group of health center quality improvement personnel in the state to discuss best practices for increasing access to behavioral health services. This peer group will address behavioral health needs of patients and families who have been diagnosed with COVID-19, patients who have delayed care due to COVID-19, and increased demand for those services in the state. This peer group will meet monthly to share in-depth knowledge and skills for addressing evolving behavioral health needs during and as a result of COVID-19. | This activity supports Goal A: Increase access to comprehensive primary care. The activity will increase the number of health centers that receive T/TA on strategies for increasing access to behavioral health services, with a focus on addressing the impacts of COVID-19. | Dr. Jane Smith, quality improvement team lead | June 2021 to June 2022 |
Activity Category: Recovery and Stabilization
| Activity Name and Description | Link to U58 Goals (PDF - 100 KB) | Person Responsible | Timeframe |
|---|---|---|---|
| COVID-19 Strategic Planning: Make support available to health centers in the state on financial analysis and forecasting to address service capacity challenges related to pent up demand due to delays in patients seeking preventive and routine care, in addition to expansion of COVID-19 vaccine, testing, and treatment capacity. Guidance will cover long-term strategies for accommodating extended health center operating hours, temporary service sites, and increased use of telehealth. The goal of this T/TA is to support health centers’ strategic planning to increase patient access to COVID-19 vaccines, testing, and treatment, as well as continued access to comprehensive primary care services. | This activity supports Goal D: Enhance emergency preparedness and response. This activity will increase the number of health centers that receive state-specific T/TA on increasing capacity to ensure continued access to comprehensive primary care, including COVID-19-related services, during and following the emergency. | John Jones, project director | May 2021 to July 2021 |
Public Burden Statement: Health centers (section 330 grant funded and Federally Qualified Health Center look-alikes) deliver comprehensive, high quality, cost-effective primary health care to patients regardless of their ability to pay. The Health Center Program application forms provide essential information to HRSA staff and objective review committee panels for application evaluation; funding recommendation and approval; designation; and monitoring. The OMB control number for this information collection is 0915-0285 and it is valid until 3/31/2023. This information collection is mandatory under the Health Center Program authorized by section 330 of the Public Health Service (PHS) Act (42 U.S.C. 254b). Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to HRSA Reports Clearance Officer, 5600 Fishers Lane, Room 14N136B, Rockville, Maryland, 20857 or paperwork@hrsa.gov.