Rotary Clubs and Tallahassee Memorial Provide Families Comfort

TALLAHASSEE, FL – On Thursday, October 18th families will gather together at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church from 5:30 to 8:00 p.m. at the 11th annual Walk to Remember to honor babies who are no longer with us.

The Walk to Remember event is held each year to observe National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day. The Walk is dedicated to our local grieving families and to their departed children. It is attended by about 200 people each year. All grieving families and their friends are welcome to participate at no cost. St. Paul’s United Methodist Church is located at 1700 North Meridian Road. There is plenty of parking in the church parking lot.

Press Release - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 31, 2012

Contact: Kristina Abernathy, Community Liaison
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
(850) 488-0288, ext. 102
Capital Area Healthy Start Coalition
1311 N. Paul Russell Road, Suite A101
Tallahassee, FL 32301
www.capitalareahealthystart.org

Service Delivery Planning Process Underway

TALLAHASSEE, FL –Providers, care coordinators, local professionals, and consumers are invited to join Capital Area Healthy Start Coalition on Thursday, August 23rd from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m.at the Leon County Community Room, 918 Railroad Avenue, to begin the Capital Area Healthy Start Coalition’s (CAHSC) service delivery planning process.  A completely revised Service Delivery Plan with updated data and needs assessment is due to the Florida Department of Health every five years. CAHSC’s next Service Delivery Plan is due in October 2015. This is the organizational meeting for developing the 2015-2020 plan.

The meeting will include: 
 - A discussion of 2011 infant mortality data findings
-  A final report on the Leon County Campaign for Healthy Babies Closing the Gap grant will be presented by Lorraine Austin of the Leon County Office of Human Services and Community Partnerships
 -  A report on the Healthy Infant Partnership’s efforts to secure a Medicaid waiver and to conduct a prenatal survey will be presented by a representative of Whole Child Leon

An analysis of the findings of the Fetal Infant Mortality Review (FIMR), Years of the Healthy Infant 2008 & 2012 and CAHSC’s Service Delivery Plan 2010-2015 reflects distinct commonalities. Recurring issues are health education to include comprehensive health education in the schools and accessible care/provider awareness. Committee members will be recruited for these working group topics.

How You Can Help

• Provider Working Group:  Accessible care and provider awareness is an issue CAHSC is focusing on within the community. The Provider Working Group was formed as a result, and is teaming up with local providers to increase the awareness among health care professionals. This group wants to work with all provider offices to ensure pre/inter conception health is taught and re-evaluate the screening and referral process for women with repeat poor pregnancy outcomes.
• Schools Working Group:  Age appropriate health education in schools is vital to a healthy community. A Schools Working Group was formed in collaboration with the Leon County Schools to review the health education curriculum in elementary, middle and high schools. The Schools Working Group recently met with school officials and provided Healthy Start’s health education curriculum for review. Meetings have already been held with school guidance counselors and social workers. Plans are underway to meet with high school principals. Local physicians have offered to make presentations they are currently making to high school students in surrounding counties. The Schools Working Group would also like to meet with PTA/PTO Presidents for their input, and have a member the Schools Working Group appointed to the Leon County School Health Advisory Committee.
• Health Education Working Group:  Funding for health educators at CAHSC has been eliminated. A Health Education Working Group is being created to recruit volunteers to provide health education in the community.
• Other ongoing committees needing more community members include the Fetal and Infant Mortality Review Case Review Team and the Healthy Infant Partnership.

The progress and activities of the working groups organized at this Service Delivery Planning meeting will be discussed at Capital Area Healthy Start Coalition's Annual Meeting in June 2013.

“It is critical that community members take part in this Service Delivery Planning Process meeting because it is the only way we will effectively address the issues surrounding infant mortality in our community,” says Ann Davis, Executive Director of CAHSC. “Every baby deserves a Healthy Start.”

Capital Area Healthy Start Coalition (CAHSC), a United Way Agency, is a 501c3, non-profit organization dedicated to improving the health of infants and their families, and created to decrease the high rates of infant deaths in Florida.

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Ann Davis joins Governor Rick Scott at the June 26, 2012 signing of House Bill 227, which creates the Statewide Task Force on Prescription Drug Abuse and Newborns; and House Bill 1175 that outlaws more than 90 new forms of synthetic drugs.

Tallahassee Democrat 05/13/2012, Page C03

My View -- Ann Davis

Today, we celebrate the dedication and strength of mothers throughout Florida.

As we honor these amazing women, we need to also recognize one of the most important challenges facing new and expecting mothers — access to health care — and the people and programs working to address these challenges.

In an average week in Florida, 4,599 babies are born — 633 are born preterm, and 399 are born with a low birthweight (less than 5½ pounds).

Babies born prematurely often spend their first weeks or even months in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and face potential lifelong challenges, such as learning disabilities, chronic lung disease and vision and hearing problems. The average medical costs for a preterm baby are more than 10 times higher than those of a healthy fullterm baby.