Saint Elizabeth Medical Center, Inc.

Pregnant and parenting women with OUD/SUD face tremendous challenges including access to treatment. This is especially true in rural counties. Therefore, treatment services must be readily available regardless of where one lives. With this funding, St. Elizabeth is proposing to convene a consortium of community members to address NAS occurrence in Southeastern Indiana including the expansion of the St. Elizabeth Baby Steps Program and Shuttle Service to Southeastern Indiana and convening of a regional Pregnancy Collaborative for key groups tackling this problem. Since 2016, the St. Elizabeth Baby Steps Program has addressed the need for comprehensive service coordination for pregnant and parenting mothers with SUD/OUD in Northern Kentucky. Pregnant and parenting women are identified through the health system and referred by community partners to receive the support and compassion needed to enter treatment and achieve recovery. This program has connected over 1,500 women to recovery support and services. Services provided by Baby Steps, along with early induction onto MAT, have led to the 56% decrease in infants born with NAS/NOWS in Northern Kentucky. The proposed program will provide individualized treatment plans and service coordination with a Nurse Clinical Liaison/NOWS Educator and Peer Support Specialist and remove transportation barriers with a Shuttle Service. These positions will be augmented by a Consortium of community partners (Dearborn County Health Department, One Community One Family, St. Elizabeth Physicians, Pregnancy Care Southeast Indiana, Cincinnati Children's Hospital & Medical Center) representing a variety of sectors relevant to behavioral and maternal health care. Together this team will engage pregnant and parenting mothers with SUD/OUD in Southeastern Indiana, connecting them to treatment and a myriad of ongoing support services in their own communities.