COMMUNITY
IMPACT &
ENRICHMENT
INFANT MORTALITY
PROGRAM EXPANDED
The Ohio Department of Health awarded $627,773 to the Heritage
College to replicate its Family Navigator program to reduce infant
mortality in Pike, Scioto, Jackson and Morgan counties. The ODH funding
supports one new family navigator in each of the designated counties,
trained using the model of patient navigation successfully used by our
Community Health Programs in Athens County during the last six years.
Like Athens County, these other counties suffer from high rates of
premature births and low birth weights. These family navigators –
specially trained nurses who work in or in close partnership with county
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community action agencies – will assist expectant moms in overcoming
barriers to a healthy birth, whether those are financial, medical,
psychological, or due to factors such as domestic violence or lack of
transportation.
The ODH grant also supports a Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome clinic,
provided in partnership with Nationwide Children’s Hospital. This project
is one of three Infant Vitality Community Intensive Pilot Projects funded
statewide by the ODH Bureau of Maternal, Child and Family Health as
part of its push to improve birth outcomes and reduce infant mortality.