Ohio awards million in grants to fight infant mortality

Cradle Cincinnati has received $1.4 million from the Ohio Department of Medicaid to hire 18 community health workers and six home visitors in a state effort to fight against infant mortality, reports the Cincinnati Business Journal.

In total, five local projects were awarded $2.8 million in an effort to fight infant mortality. The funding will create two-dozen jobs at Cradle Cincinnati, a nonprofit based at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, through a collaborative effort with Every Child Succeeds, Healthy Moms and Babes, the Cincinnati Health Department and TriHealth Outreach Ministries.

With more than 1,500 infants born prematurely in Hamilton County, Ohio, per year and the cost of these expenses is roughly $93 million. The average cost for the care of a premature baby ranges from $19,600 for moderate or late preterm births to $454,500 for a baby born extremely prematurely, compared to $3,400 for a baby carried to full term.

The Center for Closing the Health Gap will also receive $732,000 to hire and train 14 wellness coaches to push Cincinnati communities to build a better culture of health, collaborate with business owners and organizations to help educate the community on infant mortality, and teach residents to advocate for resources needed for a healthy community.

The fund will also fund other projects:

• Cradle Cincinnati will receive a $370,000 grant to support United Way’s 211 line to centralize intake for families, advertising and marketing, and two Cradle Cincinnati connections navigators.
• Health Care Access Now will be a community hub for referral distribution of clients received from the centralized intake for partner agencies employing community health care workers and utilizing the community pathways model of care using a $250,000 grant.
• Community health workers and home visitors will receive a $85,000 grant to obtain continuing education credits.

Over the past two years, Gov. John Kasich has budgeted $26.8 million to fight infant mortality, support community proposals to enhance care for women and infants at risk, improve birth outcomes and reduce racial and ethnic disparities in infant mortality.

“This is a new approach to combating infant mortality in Ohio,” said John McCarthy, state Medicaid director. “Rather than pursuing one-size-fits-all remedies that lack results, we are looking to initiatives that address the specific needs of individual communities.”