MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) - Five years of research and community engagement will help a pair of Dane Co. agencies take on Wisconsin’s high Black infant mortality rate. The new ConnectRx Wisconsin program will target low birth weights and improving birth outcomes for Black women.
Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that, while Wisconsin’s overall infant mortality and for children of non-Hispanic white women between the years of 2013 and 2015 were below the national average, the rate for non-Hispanic Black women was the highest in the country among the 41 states, including D.C., that were measured.
“ConnectRx is a critical milestone in the ongoing work we are doing to advance the health and well-being of Black women, birthing people, babies and families in Dane County,” CEO and president of The Foundation for Black Women’s Wellness Lisa Peyton-Caire explained.
The new program will be managed by the Dane Co. Health Council and The Foundation for Black Women’s Wellness. The agencies plan to accomplish their goal by increasing access to healthcare and family-stabilizing resources. They aim to help Black women and birthing persons have access to enough food, housing, employment and other needs.
ConnectRx was launched by the two groups, along with EQT by Design, and runs on a platform developed by Epic Systems. It is designed to identified patients’ needs, both medical and non-medical.
“What’s most powerful about the system is its emergence from the collaboration of health systems, Black women and the community working together to eliminate racial birth disparities and save the lives of Black babies,” Peyton-Caire continued.
They have been gathering information since 2017, leading up to the launch. That effort and the community engagement sessions that began the next year and included more than 300 individuals and service providers culminated in their Save Our Babies report, which defined the issue they plan to attack.
Access Community Health Centers CEO Dr. Ken Loving predicted it could reach up to 200,000 households and affect the lives of 95 percent of patients and nearly all births in Dane Co. He added that health systems have a responsibility to address racial inequity.
The initiative is paid for by $6 million in funds, half of which came from the federal government, while the other half came from million-dollar awards from Schmidt Futures, the Wisconsin Partnership Program and state Dept. of Administration using COVID-19 relief money.
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