Test to Treat Equity Grant awardees get creative with their outreach efforts in underserved communities
May 10,
2023By Physicians for a Healthy California Test to Treat
The California Department of Public Health contracted with Physicians for a Healthy California to administer the COVID-19 Test to Treat (T2T) Equity Grant program in July 2022, with the goal of more expeditiously connecting patients who test positive for COVID-19 with therapeutic treatment. Approximately $67 million was awarded to 175 safety-net providers and public health systems to improve COVID-19 testing and treatment in underserved communities across 45 counties.
Since October 2022, T2T awardees have served approximately 63,000 patients for COVID-19 testing, treatment or assessments. Patients are served in awardees’ clinics, at health and community events, senior living facilities, homeless shelters, and through mobile clinics.
One T2T awardee partnered with Radio Indigena, a local radio station providing information for the indigenous, immigrant and farmworker communities, with one of their bilingual physicians assigned to be a weekly guest on the morning talk show to answer questions and address concerns regarding treatment for Covid. Additionally, the station is running public service announcements regarding COVID-19 information and test to treat services at the awardee’s clinic throughout the week.
Another awardee used grant funds to offer transportation services, which is a major obstacle in their low-income community in attaining optimal health outcomes and patient satisfaction.
We applaud the ingenuity of our awardees in promoting equitable access to COVID-19 testing and treatment.