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The Latest
State Safety Net Funding in Governor's FY 2013 Budget
Governor Haslam presented the FY 2013 budget and health centers have been fully funded! The Governor proposed $6 million for FQHCs and $6 million for Community and Faith-Based Health Centers and all funds are recurring.
This is wonderful news for all of Tennessee’s CHCs and the patients they serve. We want to thank our members for your hard work in getting to this point. Nineteen CHC CEOs wrote letters to Commissioner Dreyzehner and Governor Haslam to advocate for safety net funds. These letters obviously had an impact; Commissioner Dreyzehner personally called TPCA CEO Kathy Wood-Dobbins to express his appreciation for health care centers and they work that they do.
In further good news, many of TPCA’s other priorities were also recommended for funding including Project Diabetes, Coordinated School Health, and Breast and Cervical Cancer programs.
Though we are in a strong position at this point, there is still work to be done. The Governor’s budget proposal is just one step in the budget process.
The Tennessee General Assembly will deliberate the budget and appropriate the dollars to fund it. Our attention now shifts to generating support for safety net funds among legislative members. TPCA members will meet with legislators to garner this support.
Watch the State of the State here.
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Spotlight
Tennessee moves up in health rankings
Residents are losing weight, smoking less
Tennessee is a healthier state than it was a year ago because people are losing weight and smoking less, fewer babies are dying and violent crime is down.
Those are some of the measures that moved Tennessee out of the bottom 10 states, according to America’s Health Rankings. The 2011 report, released today, ranks Tennessee 39th compared to 42nd last year.
The state has shown steady improvement in recent years on the annual report, which is compiled by United Health Foundation, a nonprofit established by UnitedHealth Group.
“It is a testament to a lot of hard work from not only lots of government agencies and communities but also individuals,” said state epidemiologist Tim F. Jones. “Obviously, 39th is not where we want to stay, but seeing steady improvement is a really good sign.”
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