Federal Grant Award Summary

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services received a Cooperative Agreement award of $622,774 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion under the Organized Approaches to Increase Colorectal Cancer Screening program (CFDA 93.800) on August 30, 2025. The award will support the North Carolina Partnership to Increase Colorectal Cancer Screenings (NC PICCS), a collaborative initiative spanning five years through August 29, 2030, that implements evidence-based interventions to increase colorectal cancer screening rates and follow-up colonoscopies among individuals aged 45-75 across participating North Carolina clinics.

NC PICCS will deliver organizational and clinical support services through partnerships among health systems, the NC Division of Public Health, the American Cancer Society, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Key service deliverables include implementing patient screening reminders, providing provider reminders and performance feedback, offering patient navigation support, and reducing structural barriers to screening access. The program targets nearly 695,000 patients served by North Carolina's 42 Federally Qualified Health Centers, where current screening rates remain low at 44.64%, with particular emphasis on vulnerable and underserved populations experiencing disproportionate colorectal cancer burden and rising incidence among younger age groups.