UAB has earned the 2025 Outstanding Heart Failure Care Team Award for its nurse-led, interprofessional approach to improving outcomes for underserved patients.The Heart Failure Society of America has recognized the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Heart Failure Transitional Care Services for Adults Clinic’s care team with a 2025 Outstanding Heart Failure Care Team Award for its commitment to improving access and outcomes among underserved patients.
The HRTSA Heart Failure Clinic is a nurse-managed, interprofessional, collaborative clinic for underserved patients with a diagnosis of heart failure.
“We are truly excited to be receiving this award,” said Connie White-Williams, Ph.D., associate professor at the UAB School of Nursing and senior director of the HRTSA Clinic. “We appreciate UAB Medicine Nursing and Cardiology leadership for supporting and sustaining the interprofessional health care delivery model.”
The HRTSA Clinic began in 2014 with a three-year, $1.5 million grant to Maria R. Shirey, Ph.D., dean of the School of Nursing. Shirey and White-Williams implemented the clinic for underinsured and medically underserved patients with heart failure discharged from UAB Hospital, with the goals of better coordinating their care, improving their quality of life and reducing 30-day hospital readmissions.
UAB Medicine has operated the HRTSA Clinic since 2017, and demonstrates a successful academic-practice partnership among the UAB School of Nursing, UAB Hospital Nursing and Cardiology.
“This recognition acknowledges the daily commitment of our interprofessional team of advanced practice providers, nurses, social workers, pharmacists, health professionals and office staff in providing care to underserved patients with heart failure,” said Vera Bittner, M.D., professor of medicine and section head of General Cardiology, Prevention and Imaging. “We provide guideline-directed medical therapy and education to our patients and their families while addressing their social determinants of health. Our goal is to provide our patients with resources that empower them to manage their heart failure and become good stewards of their own health.”
The HRTSA Clinic team collaborates with hospital cardiologists and hospitalists who refer an average of 35 patients a month. Since its inception, this clinic has served more than 1,700 patients. The clinic team has participated in multiple research endeavors over the years, leading to the dissemination of their work in 20 publications and through multiple local, national and international presentations.