TOPEKA — Doctors at a Kansas hospital say a half-billion-dollar federal grant is helping combat COVID-19 in communities across the state most disproportionately affected by the pandemic.
Using funds from the National Institute of Health Rapid Acceleration and Diagnostics in Underserved Populations program grant, the University of Kansas Health System leaders say they have been able to engage with communities in need. The hospital engaged with 10 focus counties: Crawford, Douglas, Finney, Johnson, Lyon, Riley, Saline, Sedgwick, Seward and Wyandotte.
Ed Ellerbeck, chairman of population health at KU Medical Center, said the hospital held more than 500 testing events and delivered almost 50,000 tests in underserved communities. He said the core of the effort was to reassure Kansans about their ability to work with the health care system and combat misinformation.
