In Our Community

*Apply Now: Rural Incentive Grant Program For Healthcare Providers Now Open

The South Carolina Area Health Education Consortium (AHEC) Rural Incentive Grant Program for healthcare providers in rural and underserved areas is now accepting applications for the next funding cycle. This program was created to address the maldistribution of healthcare providers in South Carolina and provides financial incentives to qualified healthcare providers who contract to practice in rural and underserved areas of the state for up to four years. South Carolina AHEC also offers enhanced incentives for the Rural Incentive Grant Program for residents in South Carolina family medicine residency programs. Applications are due on March 15.

*Become A South Carolina Breastfeeding Community Partner

Do you support your breastfeeding employees and customers and would you like to be recognized? The South Carolina Breastfeeding Coalition wants to help breastfeeding families identify organizations, businesses, and employers where they are supported and celebrate those who support them.

The evidence is clear and health organizations universally agree, breastfeeding is healthier for families. Families, however, need community support to succeed. The South Carolina Breastfeeding Coalition is an organization that serves to promote, protect, and support breastfeeding families, yet we cannot do it alone. Community partners ensure:

Families nurturing their children with human milk are always welcome and respected. They will never be treated poorly, asked to stop breastfeeding, or asked to cover up or move;

All lactating employees are allowed breaks necessary to maintain their milk supply by expressing milk or nursing their children;

All lactating employees have access to a private space for expressing milk or nursing. The space is not a bathroom. The space is lockable and shielded from view and contains a comfortable chair, small table, electrical outlet, hand hygiene station do not advertise infant formula or related products directly to consumers (although stocking and selling is permitted).

We know breastfeeding is good for families; it is also good for organizations and businesses. Benefits include:
Male and female employees miss work less often when the child is breastfed

Health care costs are lower

Employee turnover rates are lower

Employees are more productive and loyal

It engenders positive public relations

*Biden-Harris Administration Listens To Small Business Organizations And Makes Critical Fix To PPP

Biden-Harris Administration announced needed changes to the second round of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). These changes will help those very small businesses, especially those owned by people of color, that were left out of the first around of the program.
Ten days ago 100 small business organizations sent a letter to the Administration calling for one of the most important changes—a Schedule C fix. I serve as co-chair on one of those organizations, Small Business for America’s Future.
Many self-employed and microbusinesses were structurally shut out of the first round of PPP loans because loan amounts were linked to using line 31 of IRS Form 1040 which shows “net profit”. The change will allow using line 7 of the Schedule C which shows “gross income.

*McLeod Health Joins Forces With EX Program

McLeod Health has joined with the EX Program from Truth Initiative® to help its employees live free from smoking, vaping and nicotine. The EX Program is available to the nearly 8,900 employees working for the McLeod Health system of hospitals and physician practices in northeastern South Carolina. The McLeod Healthier You Program will integrate the EX Program into its overall wellness package for employees. With the EX Program, McLeod Health now provides all employees who use tobacco -- including smokers with chronic conditions such as diabetes or heart disease -- tailored support to quit.

*Pee Dee COVID-19 Vaccine Clinics Currently Available in CVAS

There are appointments available for COVID-19 vaccines for the Pee Dee Region in DHEC's CVAS scheduling system. Residents in Phase 1A, including those 65 and older, can go to CVAS at the link below to register and schedule an appointment, or call the following number for assistance with scheduling: 1-866-365-8110.