Winners & Losers: HHS Grants Announce

It wasn't so long ago that many SCUPers were burning the midnight oil to make the HHS grant deadlines. The grants have just been announced.

The over $750 million in HHS grant awards Secretary Sebelius announced today are part of a federal initiative to build capacity to enable widespread meaningful use of health IT. This assistance at the state and regional level will facilitate health care providers' efforts to adopt and use electronic health records (EHRs) in a meaningful manner that has the potential to improve the quality and efficiency of health care for all Americans. Of the over $750 million investment, $386 million will go to 40 states and qualified State Designated Entities (SDEs) to facilitate health information exchange (HIE) at the state level, while $375 million will go to an initial 32 non-profit organizations to support the development of regional extension centers (RECs) that will aid health professionals as they work to implement and use health information technology - with additional HIE and REC awards to be announced in the near future. RECs are expected to provide outreach and support services to at least 100,000 primary care providers and hospitals within two years.

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Regional SCUP Events! Enjoy the F2F company of your colleagues and peers at one of three SCUP regional conferences this spring:

• March 14–16: Baltimore, MD
• March 24–26: Cambridge, MA
• April 5–7, San Diego, CA

$120M Competition for Research Construction Grants

The U.S. Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has announced the availability of approximately $120 million in competitive grants for the construction of new or expanded scientific research buildings at higher education institutions and nonprofit organizations. Approximately eight to 12 projects will be funded by these grants, which are part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act). Possible projects include laboratories, test facilities, measurement facilities, research computing facilities, and observatories:

"Interested organizations must provide NIST with a Letter of Intent outlining the proposed project by 3 p.m. EDT, Thursday, June 25, 2009. Organizations that submit timely Letters of Intent may then submit full proposals, which must be received by 3 p.m. EDT, Monday, Aug. 10, 2009. Review, selection and grant award processing is expected to be completed by the end of February 2010."

Read about it here:
http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/releases/research_con_grants_052609.html