West Hartford-Bloomfield Health District Given $100K To Fight COVID

WEST HARTFORD, CT — The West Hartford-Bloomfield Health District has been awarded $100,000 through a project designed to reduce COVID-19 infections at healthcare facilities.

Called the Building Local Operational Capacity for COVID-19, Healthcare-Associated Infections, and Antimicrobial Resistance project (BLOC COVID-19+), the initiative is designed to strengthen relationships between local health departments and their partners and to improve local health departments' ability to assess and prevent infections at high-risk facilities.

The project will run through July 2023, officials said.

The West Hartford-Bloomfield Health District is one of 24 local health departments (out of around 3,000 nationwide) to earn the funding, which was granted by the National Association of County and City Health Officials.

"Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are infections that are acquired in a healthcare facility due to bacteria entering the body through wounds, medical devices, and/or the lungs," officials said in a news release. "As these infections are a threat to patient safety and public health, infection prevention and control efforts have become a top priority among hospitals, healthcare facilities, and health departments."