Maryland health panel hears progress on Health Equity Resource Communities grants

At a Jan. 24 briefing of the Health and Government Operations Committee, the Maryland Community Health Resources Commission (CHRC) outlined early progress on the Health Equity Resource Communities (HERC) program, saying it has awarded 12 grantees $41.5 million for five‑year projects to address chronic disease, mental health and maternal and child health disparities.

The briefing — led by Mark Lochner, executive director of the Maryland Community Health Resources Commission, and HERC project director Nellie Washington — summarized results from a two‑year pilot called Pathways to Health Equity and described monitoring, technical assistance and community outreach the commission will use during HERC’s five‑year implementation period.

CHRC officials said the 2022–24 Pathways pilot funded nine grantees with roughly $13.5 million, served more than 11,000 Marylanders and produced reductions in hospital charges and emergency‑department costs. "We take that role of being a public steward of the public fisc very seriously," Mark Lochner told the committee, describing CHRC’s ongoing oversight of about 200 open grants totaling roughly $210 million.

Nellie Washington said HERC will run from 2024 through 2029, with 12 grantees funded at $41.5 million to address clinical areas including chronic disease, mental health/substance use disorder and maternal and child health. Washington said grantees must address a minimum of three social‑determinant domains (such as transportation, food security, housing support, language access and Medicaid enrollment) and that CHRC will require quarterly, semiannual and year‑end reporting and monitoring.

The commission highlighted two grantee presentations at the briefing. Dr. Ogloo, speaking for the West Baltimore RICH Collaborative (RICH = Reducing Inequities in Cardiovascular Health), described a hypertension program that enrolled about 2,000 people during the Pathways pilot and said the collaborative reached more than 7,000 residents during that period. "We were able to touch 7,000 people in West Baltimore and enrolled 2,000 people into our hypertension program," Dr. Ogloo said, and added that the project will expand into three additional ZIP codes and will link blood‑pressure self‑monitoring with behavioral‑health supports.

Liz Krueger, director of homeless services at Interfaith Works, described a coalition that will use the HERC award to expand shelter‑based and community interventions, including Medicaid enrollment assistance, connection to primary care through partner Kelly Collaborative Medicine, vocational services and targeted behavioral‑health and substance‑use supports. Krueger said Interfaith Works will extend some services into Prince George’s County and aims to enroll roughly 1,000 people into the new Better Health Coalition while continuing its existing shelter and essential‑needs work.

Committee members asked about sustainability and scale. Delegate Delek Bandari asked what strategies grantees use to sustain reductions in hospital use and whether the work could scale to other jurisdictions; Dr. Ogloo and other presenters pointed to long‑standing partnerships (including prior Health Enterprise Zone work), university‑based staffing supports, mobile health units and community health worker models as continuity mechanisms. Nellie Washington and Dr. Ogloo also said philanthropic partners and foundations — including outreach to the Maryland Philanthropy Network and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation — are being pursued to braid and augment state funding.

CHRC officials also emphasized data and evaluation supports: the commission’s evaluation subcommittee and partnerships with CRISP will help grantees manage data‑use agreements and technical challenges. Washington said many grantees have finalized partner agreements, hired key staff and opened program doors, and that CHRC staff will provide ongoing technical assistance during months seven through the next implementation phases.

No formal committee action or vote occurred at the briefing. Committee members thanked presenters and encouraged continued outreach and measurement; the chair closed the session after members' questions.

Background and figures provided by CHRC at the briefing: over 20 years the commission said it has awarded 866 grants totaling just under $300 million and served about 660,000 Marylanders. The Pathways pilot (summer 2022–June 2024) funded nine grantees at about $13.5 million and reported serving more than 11,000 Marylanders; the HERC phase (beginning summer 2024) awarded 12 grantees $41.5 million and aims collectively to serve 49,743 individuals during the five‑year term.

Committee materials filed with the record included written testimony, a PowerPoint slide deck and short summaries of the 12 active HERC grants. The committee did not take votes at the session and asked CHRC to return with implementation updates and monitoring data during the grant period.