Prescott receives grant for high-blood-pressure-control project

LITTLE ROCK — The Arkansas Department of Health recently received an Association of State and Territorial Health Officers Million Hearts Learning Collaborative grant for high-blood-pressure (hypertension) control. Arkansas is one of six states that received this grant. The grant, totaling nearly $127,000, was awarded for innovative approaches in high-blood-pressure control and management.

ADH will implement Community Teambased Care for Uncontrolled Hypertension by partnering with Dr. Charles Vermont, a community physician in Prescott. The partnership will also include ADH, the Nevada County Local Health Unit, All Care Pharmacy, Nevada County Hospital and insurance providers. Prescott was chosen to receive this grant for several reasons, including the high percentage of Nevada County residents with high blood pressure, a high proportion of African-Americans who have a high burden of stroke and heart attack, and willingness of community partners to help implement the team-based-care project.

“We are hoping this will pave the way to population-based initiatives for hypertension control in the state,” said Dr. Appathurai Balamurugan, the project lead and medical director for the chronic-disease prevention and control branch at ADH.

For more information on the high-bloodpressure grant and project, contact Debbie Henderson, Nevada County local health unit administrator, at 870-887-2004.