Health groups plan Dayton hub to prevent infant deaths

A state grant will provide seed money for the creation of the Dayton Regional Pathways HUB, which will be a program designed to reduce the area’s high rate of infant deaths.

The Pathways Community HUB model is a model already in use in other cities and is a model where there’s a central hub connected to a network of agencies that coordinate holistic care.

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Greater Dayton Area Hospital Association said in a statement that the Dayton Regional Pathways HUB will coordinate a network of community partners that employ community health workers.

The hospital association stated the initiative serves all at-risk women, but will focus efforts on African American women due to the disproportionate poor birth outcomes and infant mortality disparities.

Targeted zip codes include 45402, 45405, 45406, 45414, 45415, 45416, 45417, and 45426.

Montgomery County’s infant mortality rate was 6.8 deaths for every 1,000 births overall in 2018, though the rate was 10.5 deaths per 1,000 births for black infants.

The initial grant is for $463,800 over two years from the Ohio Commission on Minority Health. The hub is not going to be a physical location but a model of care coordination.

Community health workers will work with women every day to ensure that the necessary resources and services are in place to support a healthy pregnancy. The funding will also provide support for hiring a HUB director and provide training, technical assistance, data analysis, outreach services, and project management for the HUB network.

“Bringing the certified HUB model to our region has been a community-wide collaboration that will ensure mothers and their babies receive holistic, culturally competent, family-centered care coordination,” Sarah Hackenbracht, president and CEO of the hospital association, said.

Dayton Regional Pathways HUB current advisory board members include:

• Tim Bete, President, St Mary Development Corp.

• Tiffany Brown, Nurse Practitioner and Co-founder of West Dayton Strong

• Jeff Cooper, Health Commissioner, Public Health - Dayton & Montgomery County

• Diane Ewing, Chief Liaison to President/CEO and Vice President, Government Affairs, Premier Health

• Sarah Hackenbracht, President & CEO, GDAHA

• Lisa Henderson, VP of Health Initiatives, GDAHA

• Helen Jones-Kelley, Executive Director of Montgomery County Alcohol, Drug Addiction & Mental Health Services

• Jodi Long, Associate Director of Montgomery County Alcohol, Drug Addiction & Mental Health Services

• Robyn Lightcap, Executive Director, Learn to Earn Dayton

• Deb Mals, VP of Health Services, CareSource

• Angela Nichols, Chief, Office for Exceptional Children, Dayton Public Schools

• Geraldine Pegues, Director, Montgomery County Human Services Planning & Development

• Lynne Schnuth, Child Outreach Specialist, Goodwill Easterseals Miami Valley; former Community Health Worker with CHAP Pathways HUB in Mansfield, Ohio.

• Amaha Sellassie, Assistant Professor, Director of Center for Applied Social Issues, Sinclair; Co-founder and president of Gem City Market; Co-founder of West Dayton Strong

• Jonathan Thackeray, MD, Chief Medical Community Health Officer of Dayton Children’s Hospital

• Amy Riegel, Director of Housing, CareSource

• Jody Underwood, Executive Director of Population Health, Kettering Health Network

• Hope Vuto, Birth to 5 Program Manager, Learn to Earn Dayton

• Karin VanZant, VP Integrated Community Partnerships, CareSource

• Nicole Wasmuth, AmeriCorps VISTA, Hall Hunger Initiative

• Terra Williams, Director of Health Promotion, Public Health - Dayton & Montgomery County

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