Regional Public Health Training Centers Program

For programmatic or technical questions:
Megan Lincoln
301.443.2702
mlincoln@hrsa.gov

For grants management or budget questions:
John Gazdik
301.443.6962
jgazdik@hrsa.gov

This opportunity provides grants to support Regional Public Health Training Centers (PHTCs) designed to increase the number of individuals in the public health workforce; enhance the quality of the workforce; and improve the ability of the workforce to meet national, state, and local healthcare needs.

Program goals include:

• Increase the supply and diversity of public health professionals
• Enhance the quality of the public health workforce through student field placements, emphasizing placements with rural and/or medically underserved communities
• Provide tailored quality training to address current and emerging public health needs

Objectives are:

• Establish and/or expand regional Public Health Leadership Institutes that support enhanced training for a diverse cohort in public health and primary care leadership emphasizing the core public health competencies
• Assess the public health staffing needs at all levels in the regions in which the centers will develop and plan quality trainings that meet Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Quality Training Standards and/or quality standards for training and delivery that focus on core competencies including real-time public health issues such as pandemic preparedness, chronic disease prevention and treatment, social determinants of health (SDOH), public health emergencies, health equity data collection, public health data and analytics/crowdsourcing, and other training gaps as identified in the assessment
• Establish and/or strengthen relationships with entities such as Primary Care Associations (PCA), and local and state health departments, to collaborate and address critical local public health needs
• Establish or strengthen field placements for students at public or nonprofit private health agencies or organizations, including hospitals, community-based healthcare facilities, and non-traditional healthcare settings. In order to address health disparities and improve health equity, encourage students who are underrepresented minorities, or from disadvantaged backgrounds for placements with rural and/or medically underserved communities. Applicants are encouraged to expand field placements for preventive medicine residents at state or local health departments, community college students in the US Pacific Islands, and Tribal Colleges and Universities.
• Designate a geographic area or medically underserved population to be served by the Center in a location removed from the main location of the teaching facility of the participating school
• Involve faculty members and students in collaborative projects to enhance public health services to rural and/or medically underserved communities to better address issues related to the social determinants of health

Eligible applicants are accredited schools of public health and other public nonprofit institutions accredited for the provision of graduate or specialized training in public health.

Award ceiling: $1,105,000 per year
Project period: 4 years
Estimated number of awards: 10
Estimated total program funding: $9,100,000

Links to the full announcement, application instructions, and the online application process are available through grants.gov.