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The COVID-19 pandemic has illuminated health inequities we face as a nation. But we’re also seeing innovation in all aspects of care delivery and community collaboration and partnerships to address these challenges. We know that the homes where people live and their support networks of family and friends influence people’s ability to stay healthy or recover quickly. Access to safe, affordable and stable housing is key to good health. Strong social connections are linked to longer life and better mental health, whereas a lack of such social ties is associated with depression and increased mortality.

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality announced two winners of its $50,000 cross-sectional innovation prize to improve rural postpartum mental health: St. Peter's Health in Helena, Mont., for its maternal mental health program that identifies at-risk individuals and connects women to resources and appropriate care early in pregnancy; and Pack Health in Birmingham, Ala., for its digital health coaching program to address postpartum depression.

The AHA and 114 other national organizations urged leaders from the House and Senate to swiftly pass the bipartisan Maternal Health Quality Improvement Act (H.R. 4995) and the bipartisan Helping MOMS Act of 2020 (H.R. 4996).

The House voted 343-67 to pass a continuing resolution that would generally extend current federal funding levels for health care and all other programs through Dec. 18.

A highly sophisticated threat actor has stolen tools used by cybersecurity company FireEye to evaluate the security posture of enterprise systems, which unauthorized third-party users could abuse to take control of targeted systems, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency announced.

AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack kicked off the AHA Virtual Executive Forum: Advancing Health Equity and Eliminating Care Disparities by welcoming hospital and health system leaders to the first virtual executive forum.

Patients should not wear face masks, such as surgical or non-surgical masks and respirators, with metal parts and coatings during a Magnetic Resonance Imaging exam, because they may become hot and burn the patient, the Food and Drug Administration reminded patients and health care providers.

This podcast, in support of AHA’s national strategic alliance with the National Urban League, is bringing attention to health inequities in Black and underserved communities through the lens of the ongoing COVID-19 public health emergency and this year’s flu season.

The AHA urged Congressional leaders to support the bipartisan Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act (H.R. 6788/S.3599), and include it in forthcoming COVID-19 relief legislation.

A bipartisan group of representatives and senators released details on a $908 billion COVID-19 relief bill that they are pushing.  

The National Institutes of Health announced two new funding opportunities as part of its program to enhance inclusive excellence and increase participation from historically underrepresented groups at NIH-funded institutions.

Sejal B. Shah, M.D., and Carla B. Monteiro, a licensed clinical social worker, at Boston-based Brigham and Women’s Hospital write that stigma and disparities around the opioid epidemic can disproportionately affect the Black and African American communities.

“Achieving health equity is a journey,” write Priya Bathija, AHA vice president of strategic initiatives, and Julia Resnick, senior program manager. To bridge the gap between commitment and action, they discuss AHA’s new resource, Societal Factors that Influence Health: A Framework for Hospitals.

A federal district court in Pennsylvania rejected a legal challenge by the Federal Trade Commission to prevent the proposed merger of Philadelphia-based Jefferson Health and Einstein Healthcare Network.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services updated its guidance on enforcement discretion during the COVID-19 public health emergency for laboratories performing molecular and antigen tests for the virus on asymptomatic individuals at the point of care or in patient care settings operating under a Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments certificate.

Over 9,000 eligible nursing homes, or 69%, will receive a portion of $523 million in COVID-19 Provider Relief Funds for meeting infection control and mortality criteria in effect from September through October, the Health Resources and Services Administration announced.

The Department of Health and Human Services has released hospital-level data on COVID-19 capacity, aggregated by week going back to Aug. 1.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Dec. 9 at 4 p.m. ET will host a call to discuss recent flexibilities the agency announced to allow acute health care services to be provided outside of a hospital setting in response to the surging COVID-19 pandemic.

The AHA released a new edition of the COVID-19 Snapshot to impart upon Congress the critical needs of hospitals and health systems during the deepening public health emergency.

The Food and Drug Administration released a briefing document on Pfizer’s BNT162b2 COVID-19 vaccine candidate that confirms the drug maker’s claims of the vaccine’s efficacy and safety.