Richmond, Henrico Health Districts to receive part of $30.6M awarded by CDC

Virginia health districts, including the Richmond and Henrico Health Districts, will receive funds from a $30.6 million grant awarded to the state by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The two-year grant, which is being coordinated by the Office of Health Equity, provides $27.3 million to the state and an additional $3.3 million for the Virginia Beach Department of Public Health, according to a press release by the VDH.

Approximately $12.1 million will be used in rural Virginia communities and $14.2 million will be administered through mini-grant programs in communities, according to the press release.

The VDH sought the funds under a four-prong strategy including infrastructure, data collection, prevention and control and working with local partners, according to the press release.

“The CDC designed this resource to ensure that the health inequities that had been created by and exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic are addressed specifically in racial and ethnic minorities, as well as rural communities and other vulnerable and marginalized populations across the state,” said Sable K. Nelson Dyer, director of the Office of Health Equity at the Virginia Department of Health.

A proposed work plan was designed to focus on communities that have been impacted disproportionately by the pandemic, including people of color, elderly people and citizens in rural areas or congregate living facilities.

Grantees participated in an orientation call with the CDC June 15 to learn about expectations and allowable expenses, Dyer said. The VDH has until August to update its work and evaluation plans, and the updates will be communicated with local health districts as soon as possible, she said.

Dyer said that the $27.3 million in funding to the state would be funneled to local health districts and community partners as directly as possible.

A COVID-19 Funding Steering Committee was established to ensure equitable distribution of funds across the commonwealth, and will last throughout the duration of the longest running funding resource, Dyer said.

Virginia has earned grants and supplemental funding from a variety of federal resources, and the steering committee will serve as long as the state has viable funds to expand, she added.

Dyer emphasized that the commonwealth would continue to embrace and embed equity in its COVID-19 response.

“We have always leveraged a data-driven approach to our equity work for COVID-19,” she said. “We want to make sure that we are following this data in terms of the numbers, but we also believe that there is a qualitative value as well. The lived experiences of our residents and our community stakeholders and leaders, who have been thought leaders and partners with us throughout this COVID-19 time, has proved invaluable.”

Dyer added that a combination of qualitative and quantitative response led Virginia to be where it is right now.

Virginia has seen a decline in new reported cases of COVID-19 since early April and almost half of the state’s population is fully vaccinated.

“Those same principles are going to lead us as we invest the resources from the federal and state government back into communities across the commonwealth to promote health and protect the well-being of our residents,” she said.