Community Health Center Grants

Pursuant to an agency request, GAO summarized the results of its congressionally-requested review of the Bureau of Primary Health's progress in resolving Community and Migrant Health Center Program grant administration issues. GAO noted that: (1) the Bureau has made several policy changes to address deficiencies in grant administration such as complying with public health law regarding grant award amounts, increasing competition for grant funds, prohibiting the use of grant funds to pay certain organization dues, and not routinely awarding grants for less than the standard 12-month period; (2) the Bureau may not identify grant overpayments and misuses, since it does not routinely review health center financial status reports to ensure that grants are used appropriately; (3) due to concerns about service delivery interruptions, the Bureau still limits competition to providers within given service areas; (4) the Bureau has not yet implemented its new policy prohibiting the use of Bureau funds for organization dues; and (5) the Bureau has reduced the potential for bias in the grant review process by providing information on the recommendations of all independent grant application reviewers.