More than 100 Parklawn employees participated in the HRSA-sponsored “Thanks Mom! Marrow Donor Drive” held in the Parklawn building May 16. Part of a national effort, the Parklawn session educated participants about the urgent need for marrow donors, especially within the African American community. Twenty participants decided to become potential donors, which they did by taking an oral cotton-swab tissue sample that may be used later to match with people needing marrow. The national drive yielded more than 20,000 possible donors. For more information, visit the National Marrow Donor Program Web site, or call Shelley Tims at 301-443-8036, stims@hrsa.gov.

On May 23, HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt awarded $147 million in supplemental funds to 56 cities most severely affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Twenty-two eligible metropolitan areas (EMAs) and 34 transitional grant areas (TGAs) received the grants, funded under Part A of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program. These funds were awarded in addition to the $390 million in formula Part A grants distributed to these EMAs and TGAs, and announced in March 5 and April 17 press releases.

Two days later, Secretary Leavitt announced grants worth nearly $125 million to help health centers increase access to care. New Access Point grants totaling $45 million will be used to establish 86 new health center sites in 33 states and the District of Columbia. Additional grants worth $55 million will expand medical capacity at 132 existing health centers, helping an additional 450,000 individuals receive primary health care services in 42 states and Puerto Rico. The remaining $25 million will supplement health centers' base grant awards.

On June 13, CAPT Annette Tyree Debisette traveled to Comcast TV's studios in Union, N.J., to be interviewed on “One on One with Steve Adubato,” for a show titled Discover Nursing . The show featuring Debisette, director of the Division of Nursing in HRSA's Bureau of Health Professions, is expected to air in late July.

Other guests interviewed for Discover Nursing included Geraldine “Polly” Bednash, executive director of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, and Susan Bakewell-Sachs, dean of the School of Nursing at the College of New Jersey.

During the seven-minute interview, Adubato asked Debisette about HRSA's nursing programs and also about her experience in helping to set up and staff a field hospital in Baton Rouge, La., in the days immediately following the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina on the Gulf Coast. For more information on HRSA's Nursing programs, please visit http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/nursing.