NH75OT000018

Addressing COVID-19 Health Disparities in Baltimore City - The Baltimore City Health Department (BCHD) will focus on two strategies:

1) Increase/improve data collection and reporting for populations experiencing a disproportionate burden of COVID-19 infection, severe illness, and death to guide the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

2) Mobilize partners and collaborators to advance health equity and address the social determinants of health as they relate to COVID-19 health disparities among populations at higher risk and that are underserved.

Most of the activities proposed build on existing initiatives and infrastructure built over the past year. BCHD proposes to establish a practice of informatics and digital services within the agency. Our goal is to automate workflows and improve the public's health through new understanding of information and application of cutting-edge technologies. Establishing this competency is crucial to the success of BCHD over the coming decade and will improve our service to residents as well as our ability to plan for the future and respond to emerging needs.

We will also expand our epidemiological support for our COVID-19 work. These new positions will take over all current analytical work, including the support of our public and private COVID-19 dashboards and data products, as well as expand this work to incorporate social determinant data and overlaying other health outcomes. Working with our partners at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, we will expand our data analysis to look at a range of comorbidities and social determinants information as they relate to COVID-19 burden and incidence rate. We will do this by having our partners analyze data in the Johns Hopkins Electronic Medical Record System and overseen by BCHD. This work will enable a variety of analyses not currently possible within the health department. We will analyze disease spread across target populations in the data at Hopkins to see how populations with various chronic conditions are affected and how this can inform our response and outreach efforts.

BCHD will work with other governmental agencies and community-based organizations to develop communications for limited English proficiency communities. BCHD will also build on existing initiatives to fund small, community-based organizations to improve testing and vaccination rates and address the social determinants of health by connecting people with resources for social needs. With support from Civic Works, BCHD will administer small grants to nonprofits and community organizations supporting vaccine outreach and other activities as specified by BCHD.

In year two of this activity, BCHD will fund personnel to continue database operation and maintenance of CharmCare, an initiative of the Baltimore Accountable Health Communities Project. CharmCare is a city-wide program that aims to connect patients to resources for social needs. It is a free online resource guide that people can use to search for free or reduced-cost programs and services in Baltimore City to help meet their needs. The directory has information for resources that can help with needs like food, housing, transportation, utilities, employment, education, mental healthcare, and substance use care.

City Of Baltimore

NOT APPLICABLE

93.354 - Public Health Emergency Response: Cooperative Agreement for Emergency Response: Public Health Crisis Response

CDC Office of Financial Resources (OFR) [HHS - CDC]

Center for State, Tribal, Local, and Territorial Support (CSTLTS) [HHS - CDC]

Baltimore (City), Maryland United States

County-Wide

National Initiative to Address COVID-19 Health Disparities Among Populations at High-Risk and Underserved, Including Racial and Ethnic Minority Populations and Rural Communities (CDC-RFA-OT21-2103)

Amendment Since initial award the End Date has been extended from 05/31/23 to 05/31/25.