Page 9 - Cleveland Clinic Akron General

“Since 2018, we’ve served 900 low-income mothers in our Perinatal Mobile Care Program. There are so many more women who can benefit from this program through- increased outreach.”
— Jennifer Savitski, MD, Chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology
ADDRESSING AKRON’S INFANT MORTALITY CRISIS
To improve birth outcomes, Jennifer Savitski, M.D., Chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology, created the Perinatal Mobile Care Program. The program team travels to neighborhoods where infant mortality is high to provide free health screenings and one-on-one counseling to parents. They focus on conditions that most significantly contribute to infant mortality and how to mitigate risk factors associated with those conditions – preterm birth, birth spacing, safe sleep, and drug use disorders.
Throughout 2020, Dr. Savitski will join community members for programs at Joy Park and Reach Opportunity Center. In partnership with Full Term First Birthday Greater Akron, she has established a new Centering Pregnancy program that has been shown to decrease the rate of preterm and low weight babies and increases breastfeeding rates.
These trials are proving their effectiveness and they warrant expansion in the coming years.
SCHOOL BASED HEALTH INITIATIVES
For years, the Center for Family Medicine (CFM) physicians have provided free back-to-school physicals for Akron Public School students at the Summit for Kids Expo. When our neighbors at Helen Arnold Community Learning Center reached out in 2018, CFM began a partnership to provide vaccinations and health education.
In 2020, we launched an 8-week Health Challenge at Helen Arnold CLC for the community. Programming included health talks by CFM physicians and other caregivers. Pre- and post-program health screenings help participants track progress. As United Way opens its family resource center at Helen Arnold, we will provide on-site education on nutrition and physical activity for the community.
Blocks away at Head Start Five Points, we will begin a free monthly clinic to provide well-child appointments and vaccines.
All of these pilots and trials are showing promise and need funding for sustainability and expansion.
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