HRSA Administrator Carole Johnson thanked those RWHAP staff who persevered through COVID-19 and demonstrated how to be creative and innovative to get services to those in need. Those lessons, said Administrator Johnson, are being put toward confronting MPx as HHS is leveraging its capacity across the department to ramp up the supply of vaccines and services.
Administrator Johnson said she was humbled to be on the same agenda with Ryan White's mom, Jeanne White-Ginder, whom she remembered from over 30 years ago as she worked the halls of Congress to secure funds for HIV services.
The work of the RWHAP, said Administrator Johnson, is particularly notable in that attention to social determinants of health was happening before it had a name: determining what services in the community are necessary to get people the care they need to engage and stay in care. Those insights, said Administrator Johnson, can be adapted as models for broader health care delivery as the RWHAP's success is clear with nearly 90% of RWHAP clients who get primary care reaching viral suppression.