Biden Harris Administration Awards Nearly $9 Million to Improve Access to Cancer Screening and Connections to Follow up Treatment in Underserved Communities to Deliver on Biden[...]

Funding will leverage outreach specialists and patient navigators to conduct engagement in underserved communities to promote early cancer detection, connect people to screening services, and provide assistance accessing cancer care and treatment.

Today, to mark National Health Center Week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), awarded nearly $9 million to 18 HRSA-funded health centers to improve access to life-saving cancer screenings in underserved communities. Health centers will partner directly with National Cancer Institute-Designated Cancer Centers to expedite patient access to cancer care and treatment. These awards advance the Biden Cancer Moonshot mission to prevent 4 million cancer deaths by 2047 and end cancer as we know it. This effort builds on work supported by the 21st Century Cures Act to expand use of proven cancer prevention and early detection strategies to reduce cancer risk in all populations.

"HHS supports efforts to help people live longer, healthier lives. That's why we are doing all we can to make cancer prevention and screening services accessible to all Americans," said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. "The funding for health centers announced today is another step towards reducing health disparities across races, ethnicities, genders, and incomes-which is essential to realizing the President's goal of ending cancer as we know it."

Two years ago, President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden reignited the Cancer Moonshot and set two national goals: To decrease the cancer death rate by at least 50% over 25 years and to improve the experience of people who are touched by cancer. The Biden-Harris Administration placed a strong emphasis on cancer screening, since Americans missed more than 10 million cancer screenings during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic and patient outcomes are drastically improved with early detection.

"No matter where you live or what resources you have, everyone should be able to benefit from the tools we have to detect, diagnose and treat cancer before it's too late," said HRSA Administrator Carole Johnson. "HRSA is proud to increase our investment in partnerships between our health centers and cancer centers to improve access to live-saving cancer prevention in communities that have been underserved for too long."

Cancer is the second-leading cause of death in the United States, with approximately 600,000 deaths annually. Appropriate screening and timely follow-up care help to detect cancer early and improve outcomes for patients. However, significant disparities in cancer screening and follow-up care persist, particularly among individuals of different income levels, insurance statuses, and racial or ethnic backgrounds.

Today's awards build on HRSA's previous investment of $11 million in 2023 and $5 million in 2022 announced as part of the Biden Cancer Moonshot.

HRSA's Health Center Program is a cornerstone of our country's health care system, especially for individuals and families who are uninsured, enrolled in Medicaid, living in rural or underserved areas, struggling to afford co-pays, experiencing homelessness, residing in public housing, or having difficulty finding a doctor or paying for care.

To locate a HRSA-supported health center, visit: https://findahealthcenter.hrsa.gov.

See the table below for a full list of the Fiscal Year 2024 Accelerating Cancer Screening awardees announced today:

Health Center	City	State	Award Amount
Operation Samahan, Inc.	National City	CA	$500,000
WellSpace Health	Sacramento	CA	$500,000
Centro de Salud de la Comunidad de San Ysidro, Inc.	San Diego	CA	$500,000
Denver Health and Hospitals Authority	Denver	CO	$500,000
Healthlinc, Inc.	Valparaiso	IN	$500,000
Bronx Community Health Network, Inc.	Bronx	NY	$500,000
Sunset Park Health Council, Inc.	Brooklyn	NY	$500,000
The Institute for Family Health	New York	NY	$500,000
Lower Lights Christian Health Center, Inc.	Columbus	OH	$500,000
Comanche County Hospital Authority	Lawton	OK	$500,000
Resources for Human Development, Inc.	Philadelphia	PA	$491,693
Stephen F. Austin Community Health Center, Inc.	Alvin	TX	$500,000
Lone Star Community Health	Conroe	TX	$499,393
Gulf Coast Health Center, Inc.	Port Arthur	TX	$500,000
Midtown Community Health Center, Inc.	Ogden	UT	$499,973
Neighborhood Health	Alexandria	VA	$500,000
Peninsula Community Health Services	Bremerton	WA	$500,000
Sea-Mar Community Health Center	Seattle	WA	$500,000

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