Grant will
address maternal and infant health disparities through deployment
of mobile vans to maternal health equity zones
DETROIT, Feb. 15,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Meridian in Michigan, a leading managed care organization
in the state of Michigan and a
wholly owned subsidiary of Centene Corporation (NYSE: CNC),
announced a partnership with the Wayne Mobile Health Unit
(WMHU) to improve maternal and infant health and broadly
support the WMHU's community outreach efforts to deliver
preventative health services directly in neighborhoods, at homes
and in workplaces.
The $1.1 million in funding from
Centene Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Centene Corporation,
and Meridian will allow WMHU to deploy mobile vans to low, moderate
and high-risk pregnant women living in metro Detroit who have not engaged in routine
prevention services and work to connect them to DMC's OB/GYN
specialists for follow-up care. The hope is the initiative will
reduce maternal health mortality rates, which are
disproportionately higher among Black and Hispanic women. Women can
participate regardless of whether they are Meridian members.
"Meridian is pleased to collaborate with the Wayne Mobile Health
Unit and our other partners to provide targeted services in an
efficient way to urban and rural communities across Michigan," said Dr. Kay Judge, Meridian's Chief Medical Officer. "By
focusing on proactive outreach to communities that have long
suffered health inequities, this partnership will directly address
disparities and provide a tangible solution that can be applied not
only to maternal health but also a wide range of health conditions
and respective outcomes."
In Michigan, Black women were
2.8 times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes in
2015-19 than white women with a maternal mortality rate for Black
women of 29.8 per 100,000 live births. Among
pregnancy-related maternal deaths between 2015 and 2019, Michigan
Department of Health and Human Services found more than 63% were
preventable. To address racial discrimination and persistent
systemic bias that contributes to poor maternal and infant
outcomes, the maternal health pilot program will use
geospatial analysis from Wayne State
University's Population Health Outcomes Information Exchange
(PHOENIX) program to identify
targeted neighborhoods in Detroit.
Eventually, the pilot will be expanded to rural areas.
"The Wayne Mobile Health Unit is incredibly grateful to the
Centene Foundation for their substantial financial commitment,"
said Dr. Phillip Levy, Associate
Vice President for Translational Science at Wayne State University and Director of the Wayne
Mobile Health Unit. "This support will help sustain our existing
outreach efforts while also allowing our expansion into the
much-needed realm of maternal health. I look forward to working
with Meridian and the Detroit Medical Center on this critically
important endeavor and know that together, we will positively
impact the communities we serve."
In addition to connecting WMHU patients with DMC follow-up care,
the program will provide routine social determinant of health
(SDoH) screenings with wraparound community health worker services
to guide women through the process and ensure continuity of care.
In its first year, the pilot aims to increase attendance at
pre- and postnatal appointments by 10-20% in an effort to reduce
maternal mortality rates.
The maternal health pilot builds on the WMHU program's success
during the pandemic. Funds from Meridian and the Centene
Foundation will enable WMHU to hire staff to deliver care and
continue to their partnership of providing no cost routine health
screenings in communities. Additionally, Meridian and WMHU will
partner to deploy mobile units to reach Meridian clients who have
not engaged in routine preventative care and will work together to
create novel billing codes to enable direct and local access to
prevention screening and care management.
About Meridian
Meridian in Michigan provides
government-sponsored managed care services to families, children,
seniors, and individuals with complex medical needs primarily
through Medicaid (Meridian), Medicare Advantage and Medicare
Prescription Drug Plans (Wellcare), Medicare-Medicaid Plans
(MeridianComplete), and the Health Insurance Marketplace (Ambetter
from Meridian). Meridian is a wholly owned subsidiary of Centene
Corporation, a leading healthcare enterprise committed to helping
people live healthier lives.
About the Centene Foundation
The Centene Foundation
(the "Foundation"), a private nonprofit focused on investing in
economically challenged communities, is the philanthropic arm of
Centene Corporation ("Centene"). The Foundation supports projects
and initiatives strategically aligned with Centene's purpose-driven
culture and enhances the work Centene is doing to remove the
barriers to wellness underserved and low-income populations face.
The Foundation is committed to addressing social determinants of
health and improving health equity in three distinct areas of
focus: healthcare access, social services, and education.
About Wayne Health
Wayne Health is a non-profit,
multi-specialty academic group practice that offers a full spectrum
of care, from birth to end-of-life, for individuals and families.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Wayne Mobile Health Unit
(WMHU) was established in partnership with Wayne State University. The mission of the WMHU is
to provide access to high-quality, portable patient-centric
preventative health care to the underserved and underinsured in
Southeast Michigan. The WMHU
provides screening services and linkage to care for those
individuals who are at greater risk of developing long term
illnesses.
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SOURCE Meridian of Michigan