Illinois Medicine

I L L I N O I S M E D I C I N E | 9 HE NATIONAL CENTER FOR RURAL HEALTH PROFESSIONS, part of the College of Medicine Rockford, has received five additional years of competitive grant funding totaling nearly $6.9 million from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration. The HRSA grant will go for the continuation of the Illinois Area Health Education Center (IL AHEC) Network Program, established in 2010, which has eight regional centers throughout the state, including one jointly based at the COM Chicago campus and the UIC School of Public Health. The centers serve both rural and urban underserved residents through access to health professions education, health careers development, and community and public health promotion activities. The grant funding will allow for the continuation and expansion of these programs and the establishment of a ninth regional AHEC center serving the suburban counties around Chicago. Through previous network efforts, more than 60,000 participants have been a part of Illinois AHEC-supported programs, which are part of the National AHEC Organization developed by Congress in 1971. Renewed Grant for Rockford Health Education Program T T UI HEALTH JOINS SUPPORTIVE ONCOLOGY COLLABORATIVE NIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS HOSPITAL & HEALTH SCIENCES SYSTEM HAS JOINED A ONE-OF-A-KIND PARTNERSHIP to bring supportive oncology tools and resources to cancer-care providers in the Chicago area. UI Health physicians and medical staff, including Mary Pasquinelli, NP; Ana Gordon, LSW; Eileen Knightly, RN, BSN, MHA; Kent Hoskins, MD; Khari Reed, MHSA; Larry Feldman, MD; Marisa Carpinelli, AM, LCSW; Nilofer Kidiwala, DO; Oana Danciu, MD; and research technician Zane Deliu, are among 135 providers from 35 Chicago-area health systems working with the Supportive Oncology Collaborative. The SOC, established and funded by The Coleman Foundation in 2014, designs and tests process improvements, creates screening tools and training, and advocates with payers to cover supportive oncology care services. Aimed to address cancer patients' psychological, social, physical and practical concerns, these services are delivered by multidisciplinary teams of oncologists, physician assistants, social workers and clergy. "University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System is proud to be a part of this unique partnership," Pasquinelli says. "Their work has created evidence-based tools and resources that are available to all cancer-care providers so their patients may have access to the physical, emotional and psychological support they need." U HE COLLEGE OF MEDICINE PEORIA WILL RECEIVE $1.25 MILLION over the next three years from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to assist low- income people living with HIV/AIDS and their families. The local grant, aimed at those in central Illinois, is a small slice of $37 million in nationwide awards announced in December by HUD to provide a combination of housing assistance and supportive services for this vulnerable population. "This is designed to provide assistance to individuals living with HIV and to help establish stable housing," says Pam Briggs, director of administrative operations at Positive Health Solutions, a program based at the COM Peoria that has provided comprehensive medical care and services to persons living within a 15-county area in central Illinois since 1994. PROVIDING AID FOR HIV/AIDS POPULATION Peoria HIV/AIDS program receives $1.25 million renewal from HUD for low-income sufferers "There's a lot of additional expenses with this disease that makes it hard to make ends meet." A stable home is critical to the well- being of those living with HIV/AIDS and results in better health outcomes and reduced transmission of the disease, HUD says. The grant will provide rental assistance, including case managers and social service coordinators, for up to 55 people living in central Illinois during each of the three years. The grant also will provide permanent housing placement services for up to 75 people over the three-year period. Briggs says there is a waiting list at the moment, but she adds that as people become more stable, they hopefully will be able to transition to private housing and no longer need the funding assistance, allowing others living with HIV to receive grant funding. Similar assistance was provided in a previous three-year grant from 2014 to 2017.

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