Press Release

National Association of County and City Health Officials Awards $2.3 Million in Funding to Prevent Outbreaks of Infectious Diseases in Healthcare Settings

Apr 25, 2022 | Christina Baum

24 Local Health Department Awardees Will Address Spread of COVID-19, Healthcare-Associated Infections, and Antibiotic Resistant Pathogens

Washington, DC, April 25, 2022—The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), the voice of the country’s nearly 3,000 local health departments, with support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Division of Healthcare Quality and Promotion, has awarded a total of more than $2 million to 24 local health departments through the Building Local Operational Capacity for COVID-19, Healthcare-Associated Infections, and Antimicrobial Resistance (BLOC COVID-19 +) project. The project continues and expands upon the first year of the BLOC COVID-19 Demonstration Site project by allowing local health departments to go beyond COVID-19 response and address other healthcare-associated infections and antimicrobial resistant pathogens. Healthcare-associated infections are among the leading causes of preventable deaths in the United States and the pandemic heightened public awareness of the importance of infectious disease prevention and control in healthcare settings. The CDC estimates that one in 31 hospital patients are infected with at least one healthcare-associated infection, which resulted in 72,000 deaths attributed to HAIs in 2015.

The goals of the project are to:

a. Strengthen relationships between local health departments and facilities and partners;
b. Enhance local health department capacity and confidence in assessing and supporting infection prevention and control practices in high-risk facilities; and
c. Improve implementation of infection prevention and control in high-risk facilities; and decrease rates of and negative outcomes associated with COVID-19, healthcare-associated infections, and antimicrobial resistant pathogens in those settings.

The local health department awardees are:

Alameda County Health Care Services Agency (CA)
Calhoun County Health Department (IL)
Cameron County Public Health (TX)
Cass County Health Department (IL)
Central District Health Department (NE)
City of Brownsville Public Health Department (TX)
Clay County Public Health Center (MO)
Columbus Public Health (OH)
Cook County Department of Public Health (IL)
County of Fresno – Public Health Department (CA)
County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency - Public Health Services (CA)
DuPage County Health Department (IL)
Fairfax County Health Department (VA)
Farmington Valley Health Department (CT)
Florida Department of Health in Polk County (FL)
Hamilton County General Health District (OH)
Johnson County Department of Health and Environment (KS)
Lake County Health Department and Community Health Center (IL)
North Central District Health Department (CT)
Pima County Health Department (AZ)
Stark County Health Department (OH)
Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department (WA)
Tarrant County Public Health (TX)
West Hartford-Bloomfield Health District (CT)

These local health departments will implement this project through July 2023.

Additional information can be found in the project’s request for applications.

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About NACCHO

The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) represents the nation’s nearly 3,000 local health departments. These city, county, metropolitan, district, and tribal departments work every day to protect and promote health and well-being for all people in their communities. For more information about NACCHO, please visit www.naccho.org.