Washington, DC, January 25, 2024—The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), the voice of the country’s over 3,300 local health departments, with the support of the CDC’s Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, has announced the awards for its Building Up Infection Prevention and Control in Local Departments in Healthcare-Associated Infections and Antimicrobial Resistance (BUILD HAIAR) project. These funds will support the 17 selected local health departments to leverage the CDC (Interim) Local Health Department Strategy for HAI/AR. The purpose of this strategy is to strengthen capacity to improve healthcare infection prevention and response efforts, including those for COVID-19 and other healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), as well as those infections caused by antimicrobial resistance (AR) pathogens.

HAIs are among the leading causes of preventable deaths in the United States. The CDC estimates that one in 31 hospital patients are infected with at least one HAI, and AR is a major public health threat that compounds the challenge of HAIs. Antimicrobial-resistant infections cause over 35,000 deaths each year, and nine of the top 18 infections considered the highest AR threats are often associated with healthcare settings.

The selected local health departments will conduct infection control assessments, strengthen antimicrobial stewardship efforts, and build strategic approaches to HAI/AR, including addressing health equity. They will also coordinate with stakeholders at the local and state levels to advance these efforts.

The 17 selected local health department participants are:

• Central District Health Department, NE ($80,000)
• Columbus Public Health, OH ($70,000)
• County of Peoria Health Department, IL ($60,000)
• County of San Diego Public Health, CA ($80,000)
• Dent County Health Center, MO ($80,000)
• Florida Department of Health in Polk County, FL ($80,000)
• Lubbock Public Health, TX ($80,000)
• Monongalia County Health Department, WV ($80,000)
• San Antonio Metropolitan Health District, TX ($80,000)
• Alexandria Health Department, VA ($60,000)
• Cincinnati Health Department, OH ($79,336.29)
• DuPage County Health Department, IL ($80,000)
• Farmington Valley Health District, CT ($80,000)
• Hennepin County Public Health, MN ($72,040.42)
• Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services, CA ($80,000)
• Stark County Health District, OH ($80,000)
• West Hartford-Bloomfield Health District, CT ($70,000)

The local health departments listed above will implement the BUILD HAIAR project through June 2024.

To learn more about the NACCHO HAI/AR portfolio, please visit our webpage here.

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About NACCHO

The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) represents the country’s over 3,300 local health departments. These city, county, metropolitan, district, and tribal departments work every day to protect and promote health and well-being for all people in their communities. For more information about NACCHO, please visit www.naccho.org.