Health and Human Services dedicates $3.6 million to improve maternal health in northwest Minnesota
Dec. 7—BEMIDJI — The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has provided $3.6 million to local care providers to improve rural maternal services.
Regional healthcare providers including Sanford Health of Northern Minnesota, Cass Lake Indian Health Service, Red Lake Indian Health Service and Beltrami County Health and Human Services received the grant funding. The grants are part of the HHS department's Families First: Rural Maternity Health Collaborative, a release said.
The grant funding will be used over a four-year period starting in 2021 between existing health programs in Beltrami, Cass, Clearwater, Hubbard and Itasca Counties. The goal is to enhance the services each partner provides.
The grant is intended to help issues facing the area, the release said. The cited challenges affecting access to obstetric care for Native American women include geographic isolation, inadequate transportation, chronic illness, poverty, substance use, challenges with health literacy and a history of systemic racism.
The release also notes how in the U.S. more than 7 million women live in areas where there are limited or no obstetric care services, leading to higher rates of maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality among rural and Native American women.
"Many of our patients still face multiple barriers in accessing prenatal care including no reliable transportation, childcare and financial concerns," said Dr. Johnna Nynas, OB/GYN at Sanford Health of Northern Minnesota and physician lead for the project. "The collaborative relationship between our health care organizations, physicians and advanced practice providers is central to ensuring we can provide evidence-based and risk appropriate care to high-risk pregnancies locally within our region."
According to the release, Sanford Bemidji birth statistics for 2020 show that 8% of deliveries were impacted by diabetes, 11% by hypertension and 11% have at least one sexually transmitted disease. Three percent of all deliveries did not receive prenatal care (Minnesota state average is 1%), with an additional 12% seeking care from the fifth month of pregnancy or later (the Minnesota average is 8%).
Network partners at Indian Health Services sites note these numbers would be much higher if condensed to just the Native American population, however data specific to these communities is very limited.
"Previously, each of our health care systems was working with limited resources to provide comprehensive care, however, our new model employs a systematic approach to each focus area that brings high-quality medical care, social support and education to women wherever they are," Nynas said.
During the first year of the grant, the project will finalize its model addressing the focus areas of the grant as predetermined by a community needs assessment.
The program will be implemented during years two through four of the grant focusing on:
* Improving access to prenatal care among Native American women in Beltrami, Cass, Clearwater, Hubbard and Itasca Counties.
* Developing infrastructure to expand telemedicine outreach in Cass Lake and Red Lake hospitals.
* Reducing transportation barriers.
* Improving management of hypertension, diabetes, substance use and tobacco use in pregnancy in alignment with state initiatives.
* Improving patient engagement in prenatal care and enhancing prenatal education, as well as improving maternal and neonatal outcomes.
* Developing a robust obstetric care coordination team for network partners to coordinate transportation, referrals and follow-up appointments.
* Exploring ways to offer more physical and emotional support to women delivering at facilities and emphasizing support for low intervention birth.
* Expanding existing home visiting nursing programs in network communities and integrating telemedicine visits to offer another way to reach patients who may not be receptive to home visits.
* Exploring enhanced reimbursement opportunities for prenatal care programming with local Medicaid offices with a goal of decreasing costs.
"We look forward to collaborating with all of our partners with the help of this grant toward improving care for mothers and their children throughout the region," Nynas said.
