Healthcare Associated Infections (HAIs) are among the leading causes of preventable deaths in the United States. Antimicrobial Resistance (AR) is also a major public health threat which compounds the challenge of HAIs. NACCHO recognizes the growing local health department’s (LHD’s) role in HAI prevention and response and that addressing the burden of HAI and AR will require improvements in infection control expertise, infrastructure, and practice. These challenges demonstrate the urgency of the situation as well as opportunities for LHDs to work with healthcare facilities to improve infection prevention, control, and outbreak response.

To increase the capacity of LHDs in healthcare infection prevention and control, NACCHO, in partnership with CDC’s Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, is excited to announce the 2024 scholarship opportunity for LHD’s current staff to obtain a Certification in Infection Control (CIC) or Associate-Infection Prevention and Control (a-IPC). The selected LHDs for this scholarship will be reimbursed up to $2,500 for their staff’s exam fees and study materials. However, for LHDs planning to purchase exam registrations for more than 3 staff, for each additional individual who plans to be certified, $500 may be granted to cover those registration costs up to $5,000. The amount your LHD is awarded will be determined based on who you specify in the application. Exam registration is required, and all reimbursable expenses must be incurred and submitted by June 30, 2024. The exam itself may be taken after the expenses deadline but must be within 90 days of CBIC confirmation of eligibility.

Scholarship recipients may be asked to provide feedback on the certification process and the impact certification has had on their department’s capacity for IPC efforts. NACCHO will use this feedback to inform future project activities supporting LHDs in IPC.

For more information about the exams, including eligibility requirements, please visit the Certification Board of Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc.’s (CBIC®) website.

View NACCHO’s Assessment, Certification in Infection Control: Local Impact and Strategies for Success from our 2016 survey.

Interested in participating?

Start now by reviewing the Application in OpenWater. You can also view the recording of the optional informational webinar, which was held on Thursday, January 11, 2024. The slides from this webinar can be downloaded here.

Important Notes for Applying

Each LHD will appoint one point of contact (POC) to liaise with NACCHO and coordinate LHD staff taking CIC or a-IPC exams. This POC will manage award acceptance, reimbursements, and submit the sole application for the LHD, including individual staff information for exam participation.

Important Dates

• Request for application opens: Friday, January 5, 2024.
• Optional informational webinar held on Thursday, January 11, 2024.
• Application submission deadline: Friday, January 26, 2024.
• Anticipated award notification: NACCHO will share notice of award with applicants on a rolling basis. The latest NACCHO will share award notifications is Friday, February 16, 2024.
• End of Project Period: Friday, June 30, 2024.

Questions?

NACCHO encourages LHDs to first review the regularly updated FAQ document, watch the optional informational webinar recording from Thursday, January 11th, 2024, join and submit a question to the open “CIC Scholarship Community” on NACCHO’s virtual community platform, or email NACCHO at [email protected] with the subject line “CIC Scholarship.”

To learn more about NACCHO’s HAI/AR work, visit this webpage.