Tennessee public school students are required to turn in the state department of health immunization certificate before returning to the classroom. The list of required vaccinations are here. VFC helps families of children who may not otherwise have access to vaccines by providing free vaccines to doctors who serve them.
Children ages 18 years or younger who meet at least one of the following requirements:
Come see us at this Community Outreach Event on June 24th, 11:00 am - 2:00 pm at Resurrected Reformed Baptist Church located at 2230 E 18th St, Chattanooga, TN.
TennCare re-enrollment can be complicated and overwhelming - we'll be there to help you renew, apply for, and keep TennCare, and we will have a Spanish-speaking translation available!
The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) provides answers to general and program-specific inquiries including Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and private insurance in an informative publication available here.
Rural Health Association is ready to assist patients in keeping their TennCare Coverage! Trained assisters will be at Saint Louise Clinic in Murfreesboro each Friday in May and June from 9am - 1pm CT to help individuals determine if they are still eligible for TennCare and provide other helpful information. Can’t attend the event? Call 866-675-7092 or click here to schedule an appointment with a trained assister.
The address for Saint Louise Clinic is 1020 N Highland Ave A, Murfreesboro, TN 37130.
Do you have TennCare or serve those who do? Mandatory re-enrollment of TennCare, Tennessee's state Medicaid program, has started, and we are here to help! We are partnering with Anderson County and Clinton City Schools to participate in their Family Resource Fair!
Join us to if you are in need of help with re-enrollment on May 11th, from 3:00pm-6:00pm at the Clinton Community Center, 101 S. Hicks St., Clinton, TN 37716.
Regional events are an opportunity to learn more about health issues affecting your community, such as substance use disorder, maternal health, and more. Lunch will be provided to in-person attendees.
A Town Hall, moderated by Jacy Warrell, RHA's CEO, will be available from 2:00-3:00pm.
RHA is delighted to share a summary of our member events and programs for 2022. Thank you to our members, staff, funders, and many community partners for your support the past year!
Click here to view the online report
Click here to download a PDF of the report
National Health Service Corps New Site Application Webinar Recording Now Available! Click here
The 2022 NHSC New Site Application Cycle is open and accepting applications through Tuesday, May 10, 2022 at 11:59 p.m. E.T.
Have a question? Application help is available!
April 14, 2-4 p.m. ET: NHSC New Site Application Q&A Session #1
April 27, 12-2 p.m. ET: NHSC New Site Application Q&A Session #2
Join us Wednesday, December 7th for our free COVID-19 webinar! Vaccines and boosters are our best defense against serious illness from COVID-19. Currently, many people across the country remain unvaccinated or have not received booster shots for COVID-19.In rural Appalachia, high numbers of chronic disease, along with an aging population contribute to the unvaccinated or insufficiently vaccinated having a higher risk of severe complications or death from a COVID-19 infection.
TennCare is beginning a Tri Star Campaign to test the member addresses they have on file. THIS WILL NOT AFFECT ANYONE’S COVERAGE. As they continue to prepare for the public health emergency unwinding (HHS Secretary Beccera renewed the PHE on 10/13/22), they want to make sure the addresses that TennCare has are accurate. Over the next two months, TennCare will send out a letter to each household. They will be asking people to be on the lookout for the letter and to notify us if they don’t receive a letter in the next two months. Additionally, TennCare will be conducting research on mail that is returned without a forwarding address.
FAQS
Conference and holiday season is upon us. If you have COVID-19 questions or want updates, then this webinar is for you!
Free COVID-19 Therapeutics Now Available!
All CMS-certified RHCs may now enroll in the HRSA RHC COVID-19 Therapeutics Program to receive a direct supply of free COVID-19 Antivirals! For more information click here.
The following statement is from STLT Policy & Public Health Partnerships in regards to under 5 year old vaccinations:
On Saturday, June 18th, CDC Director Rochelle P. Walensky, M.D., M.P.H., endorsed the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ (ACIP) recommendation to expand COVID-19 vaccination to children younger than 5 years of age. This decision now universally recommends COVID-19 vaccination for everyone 6 months and older, paving the way for about 20 million children in this age group to get vaccinated and allowing providers to begin vaccinating with either the Moderna or the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine as soon as possible.
CDC releases "Rural Considerations for Vaccine Confidence and Uptake Strategies"
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released another COVID-related rural resource that
may be of interest. A “Rural Considerations” addendum was recently added to its field guide for conducting a Rapid Community Assessment (RCA). An RCA is a process for quickly collecting community insights about a public health issue in order to inform program design. The assessment involves reviewing existing data and conducting community-based interviews, listening sessions, observations, social listening, and surveys. In addition to the rural considerations addendum, the
The following information was an update made by the CDC on January 6, 2022: The CDC has updated guidance for K-12 schools to align with the updated quarantine and isolation guidance.
Quarantine is a strategy used to prevent transmission of COVID-19 by keeping people who have been in close contact with someone with COVID-19 apart from others. Isolation is used to separate people with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 from those without COVID-19.
Today the CDC Director issued two COVID-19 related recommendations following actions by the FDA:
The media statement released this morning is below. The FDA action authorizing booster shots for children ages 12-15 will be discussed at an ACIP meeting scheduled for Jan 5. When available, we will communicate CDC’s decision. Providers are reminded to wait for the CDC recommendation before administering booster shots to this age group.
Rural Health Association of Tennessee and it's partners at The Tennessee Justice Center hosts a webinar with the Tennessee Department of Health on COVID-19 Surveillance and Variants; Exploring how to prevent COVID-19, January 13, 2022 at 10:00am-11:00am CST.
Tennessee’s Department of Health’s mission is to protect, promote and improve the health and prosperity of people in Tennessee. This session will provide updates on Tennessee’s COVID response as well as other efforts to improve population health.
Learning Objectives
• Understand the most recent data on COVID spread and the success of various mitigation strategies, particularly in rural areas
• How to support public health efforts through consistent messaging and education
• Discover resources available to providers and public to improve health of Tennesseans
The Rural Health Association of Tennessee is hosting a webinar with the Tennessee Department of Health to 
provide an update on the Covid-19 pandemic on Sept. 23 from 11 a.m. until noon CDT.
Participants will hear from Dr. Mary-Margaret A. Fill and Jane Yackley, who both serve as epidemiologists with the Tennessee Department of health. Our discussion will aim to summarize recent data trends of Covid-19 transmission in Tennessee. We will also review prevention and mitigation measures for the spread of the virus, and we will discuss the implications of the Delta variant.
The Tennessee Department of Health assures families across Tennessee that information and access to vaccinations for children through state health departments continues and there has been no disruption to these services.
While misinformation has been circulated regarding the status of these resources, parents who need information regarding routine childhood immunizations can find resources here. Parents seeking the COVID-19 vaccine for children 12+ can find additional information here.
