Program Announcement for Cooperative Agreements for Basic/Core Area Health Education Center Programs, and Model Area Health Education Center Programs for Fiscal Year 1997

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Health Resources and Services Administration

Program Announcement for Cooperative Agreements for Basic/Core

Area Health Education Center Programs, and Model Area Health Education

Center Programs for Fiscal Year 1997

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) announces

that applications will be accepted for fiscal year (FY) 1997

Cooperative Agreements for Basic/Core Area Health Education Center

(AHEC) Programs authorized under section 746(a)(1), and Model State-

Supported Area Health Education Center Programs authorized under

section 746(a)(3), title VII of the Public Health Service Act. To

receive support, these programs must meet the requirements of the

regulations as set forth in 42 CFR part 57, subpart MM, to the extent

they are not superceded by Statutory Amendment to section 746.

This announcement for the above stated programs is subject to

reauthorization of the legislative authority. In fiscal year (FY) 1997

the total amount available for the AHEC Program, including Basic/Core

AHEC and Model State-Supported AHEC awards, is $28.495M of which

approximately $12.0 M will be available for competing awards. It is

estimated that awards will be made to 12-15 competing applicants

including renewals and new starts. These include approximately 7-9

Basic/Core AHEC Program awards and 5-6 Model AHEC Program awards.

In FY 1996, the average award for the Basic/Core AHEC Program was

$1,033,130; and the average award for the Model AHEC Program was

$211,111. These awards support AHEC programs that employ a statewide or

regional approach.

Cooperative Agreements for Basic/Core Area Health Education Center

(AHEC) Program; Section 746(a)(1)

Purpose

Section 746(a)(1) of the PHS Act authorizes Federal assistance to

schools of medicine (allopathic and osteopathic) which have cooperative

arrangements with one or more public or nonprofit private area health

education centers for the planning, development and operation of area

health education center programs.

Eligibility

To be eligible to receive support for an area health education

center cooperative agreement, the applicant must be a public or

nonprofit private accredited school of medicine (allopathic or

osteopathic) or consortium of such schools, or the parent institution

on behalf of such school(s).

Period of Support

Applicants may request up to 3 years of support with the

expectation that AHECs planned and developed in years 1 and 2 would be

fully operational no later than the 3rd year. The period of Federal

support should not exceed 12 years for an area health education center

program and 6 years for an area health education center.

General Requirements:

To obtain funds for a basic AHEC under section 746(b), a medical

school (allopathic or osteopathic) must:

(a) Maintain preceptorship educational experiences for health

science students;

(b) Maintain community-based primary care residency programs or be

affiliated with such programs;

(c) Maintain continuing education programs for health professionals

or coordinate with such programs;

(d) Maintain learning resource and dissemination systems for

information identification and retrieval;

(e) Have agreements with community-based organizations for the

delivery of education and training in the health professions;

(f) Be involved in the training of health professionals (including

nurses and allied health professionals), except to the extent

inconsistent with the law of the State in which the training is

conducted; and

(g) Carry out recruitment programs for the health science

professions, or programs for health-career awareness, among minority

and other elementary or secondary students from the areas the program

has determined to be medically underserved;

Provisions Regarding Funding

1. Section 746(e)(1)(B) of the Act requires that not more than 75

percent of total operating funds of a program in any year shall be

provided by the Federal Government. However, as provided in section

746(e)(2), for an AHEC center developed as part of an AHEC program

first funded under the basic AHEC authority on or after October 13,

1992, a ceiling of 55 percent of any fifth or sixth year of the

development or operation of a center is established.

2. The participating medical schools must provide for the active

participation of at least two schools or programs of other health

professions (including a school of dentistry), if there is one

affiliated with the medical school's university, and a graduate program

of mental health practice, if there is one affiliated with the

university.

3. At least 75 percent of the total funds provided to a school

under any AHEC program authority (Basic/Core AHEC Program(s), or Model

State-Supported AHEC Program(s)) must be expended by the AHEC program

in AHEC centers and the school is required to enter into an agreement

with each of such centers for purposes of specifying the allocation of

the 75 percent of funds.

Review Criteria

The following review criteria apply to the Basic/Core AHEC

Programs, section 746(a)(1) and the Model AHEC Programs, section

746(a)(3). These review criteria were established after public comment

at 60 FR 24638, dated May 9, 1995.

The review of applications will take into consideration the

following criteria:

1. The degree to which the proposed project adequately provides for

the program requirements set forth in sections 746(a)(1) and 746(a)(3);

2. The capability of the applicant to carry out the proposed

project activities in a cost-efficient manner;

3. The extent of the need which the proposed AHEC program is

addressing in the area to be served by the area health education

center(s);

4. The potential of the proposed AHEC program and participating

center(s) to continue on a self-sustaining basis; and

5. The extent to which the proposed project adequately responds to

AHEC Program performance measures and outcome indicators.

Substantial Programmatic Involvement

The Bureau of Health Professions, within the Health Resources and

Services Administration, has substantial programmatic involvement in

the planning, development, and administration of the Basic/Core AHEC

and Model AHEC projects by:

1. Reviewing and approving plans upon which continuation of the

cooperative agreement is contingent in order to permit appropriate

direction and redirection of activities;

2. Reviewing and approving all contracts and agreements among

recipient medical or osteopathic schools, other health professions

schools and the community-based AHEC centers;

3. Participating with project staff in the development of funding

projections;

4. Developing, with project staff, individual project data

collection systems and procedures; and

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5. Participating with project staff in the design of project

evaluation protocols and methodologies.

Model Area Health Education Center Programs Section 746(a)(3)

Purpose and Eligibility

Section 746(a)(3) authorizes Federal assistance to any school of

medicine (allopathic or osteopathic) that is operating an area health

education centers program and that is not receiving financial

assistance under section 746(a)(1). Applicants must meet the

eligibility conditions of programs as set forth in section 746(b), and

the AHEC centers they wish to have included must meet eligibility

requirements in accordance with section 746(d).

Therefore, applicants in States where more than one eligible entity

exists are encouraged to collaborate in the submission of a single

Model AHEC Program application, which reflects a consortium of

Statewide programs to coordinate community-based health professions

training activities.

Requirements for Model AHEC Programs

a. Coordinate the activities of the program with the activities of

any office of rural health established by the State or States in which

the program is operating;

b. Conduct health professions education and training activities

consistent with national and State priorities in the area served by the

program in coordination with the National Health Service Corps,

entities receiving funds under section 329 (Migrant Health Centers) or

330 (Community Health Centers) and public health departments; and

c. Cooperate with any entities that are in operation in the area

served by the program and that receive Federal or State funds to carry

out activities regarding the recruitment and retention of health care

providers.

Matching Funds Requirement

With respect to the costs of operating the Model State-Supported

AHEC program, the school must make available (directly or through

donations from public or private entities) non-Federal contributions in

cash toward such costs in an amount that is not less than 50 percent of

such costs. These funds must be for the express use of the AHEC Program

and Centers, and not funds designated for other categorical or specific

purposes.

Section 746(a)(3)(D) states that schools must maintain expenditures

of non-Federal amounts at a level that is not less than the level of

such expenditures for the fiscal year preceding the first fiscal year

for which the school receives an award. The non-Federal contribution to

the AHEC program(s) in the current year is at least equal to the amount

to be received from the Federal program as required by section

746(a)(3)(B).

Other Considerations

The principal objective of this legislation is to encourage State

coordination and support for AHEC activities. An effective approach for

obtaining support from State legislatures is to present a unified plan

showing how all the programs are working together to provide the needed

services in the State. Competitive applications from one State tend to

be divisive rather than unifying in reaching common goals.

Criteria for Allocation of Available Funds

The following criteria for allocation of funds were established in

the Federal Register on September 14, 1993, (at 58 FR 48068) after

public comment and are being continued in FY 1997.

HRSA will fund approved applications based on the following

formula:

1. Annually, the total amount available for funding under section

746(a)(3) will be divided by the total number of AHEC centers in

approved applications. This will yield the per center allocation.

2. In accordance with the provisions of section 746(e)(l)(A), at

least 75 percent of the awarded funds must be spent by an AHEC program

in approved AHEC centers. The remaining 25 percent may be allocated to

the AHEC program office and/or other participating schools.

3. A school may expend not more than 10 percent of an award for

demonstration project purposes as defined in section 746(a)(3)(E).

National Health Objectives for the Year 2000

The Public Health Service (PHS) is committed to achieving the

health promotion and disease prevention objectives of Health People

2000, a PHS-led national activity for setting priority areas. The

Basic/Core Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) Program and the Model

State-Supported AHEC Program are related to the priority area of

Educational and Community-Based Programs. Potential applicants may

obtain a copy of Healthy People 2000 (Full Report; Stock No. 017-001-

00474-0) or Healthy People 2000 Summary Report; Stock No. 017-001-

00473-1) through the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing

Office, Washington, D.C. 20402-9325 (Telephone 202-783-3238).

Academic and Community Partnerships

As part of its long-range planning, HRSA will be targeting its

efforts to strengthening linkages between U.S. Public Health Service

supported education programs and programs which provide comprehensive

primary care services to the underserved.

Smoke Free Workplace

The Public Health Service strongly encourages all grant and

cooperative agreement recipients to provide a smoke-free workplace and

promote the non-use of all tobacco products and Public Law 103-227, the

Pro-Children Act of 1994, prohibits smoking in certain facilities that

receive Federal funds in which education, library, day care, health

care, and early childhood development services are provided to

children.

Application Availability

Application materials are available on the World Wide Web at

address: ``http://www.hrsa.dhhs.gov/bhpr/grants.html''. In Fiscal Year

1997, the Bureau of Health Professions (BHPr) will use Adobe Acrobat to

publish the grants documents on the Web page. In order to download,

view and print these grants documents, you will need a copy of Adobe

Acrobat Reader. This can be obtained without charge from the Internet

by going to the Adobe Web page (``http://www.adobe.com'') and

downloading the version of the Adobe Acrobat Reader which is

appropriate for your operating system, i.e., Windows, Unix, Macintosh,

etc. A set of more detailed instructions on how to download and use the

Adobe Acrobat Reader can be found on the BHPr Grants Web page under

``Notes on this WWW Page''.

If additional programmatic information is needed, please contact

Carol S. Gleich, Ph.D. Chief, AHEC and Special Programs Branch,

([email protected].)Division of Medicine, Bureau of Health

Professions, Health Resources and Services Administration, Parklawn

Building, Room 9A-27, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, Maryland 20857.

Telephone: (301) 443-6950, FAX: (301) 443-8890. Questions regarding

grants policy and business management issues should be directed to Ms.

Wilma Johnson, Acting Chief, Centers and Formula Grants Section

([email protected]),

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Grants Management Branch, Bureau of Health Professions, Health

Resources and Services Administration, Parklawn Building, Room 8C-26,

5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, Maryland 20857.

For applicants who are unable to access application materials

electronically, a hard copy will be provided be contacting the HRSA

Grants Application Center. The Center may be contacted by: Telephone

Number: 1-888-300-HRSA; FAX Number: 301-309-0579; Email Address:

[email protected]

Completed applications should be returned to: Grants Management

Officer (CFDA#), HRSA Grants Application Center, 40 West Gude

Drive, Suite 100, Rockville, Maryland 20850.

Paperwork Reduction Act

The standard application form PHS 6025-1, HRSA Competing Training

Grant Application, General Instructions and supplement for these grant

programs have been approved by the Office of Management and Budget

under the Paperwork Reduction Act. The OMB Clearance Number is 0915-

0060.

Deadline Date

The deadline dates for receipt of applications for each of these

programs are shown in Table 1. Applications will be considered to be

``on time'' if they are either:

(1) Received on or before the established deadline date, or

(2) Sent on or before the established deadline date and received in

time for orderly processing. (Applicants should request a legibly dated

U.S. Postal Service postmark or obtain a legibly dated receipt from a

commercial carrier or U.S. Postal Service. Private metered postmarks

shall not be acceptable as proof of timely mailing.)

Late applications not accepted for processing will be returned to

the applicant. In addition, applications which exceed the page

limitation and/or do not follow format instructions will not be

accepted for processing and will be returned to the applicant.

Table 1

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Period of

PHS Section No., Title, CFDA Type of support Deadline

No., Regulation assistance (years) date

------------------------------------------------------------------------

746(a)(1), Basic/Core AHEC, Cooperative 3 3/21/97

93.824, 42 CFR part 57 Agreement.

subpart MM.

746(a)(3), State Supported Cooperative 3 3/21/97

Model AHEC, 93.107. Agreement.

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These programs are not subject to the provisions of Executive Order

12372, Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs (as implemented

through 45 CFR part 100) or the Public Health System Reporting

Requirements.

Dated: January 28, 1997.

Ciro V. Sumaya,

Administrator.

[FR Doc. 97-2682 Filed 2-3-97; 8:45 am]

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