Frederick Health

The Challenge

53% of pregnancy-related deaths occur between one week and a year after birth. This time, often referred to as the “fourth-trimester,” is a period of significant emotional and physical challenges for a mother and is associated with a high risk of maternal mortality and morbidity. Frederick Health Hospital wanted to take matters into their own hands to ensure that every mother and baby that goes to their hospital receives quality and timely postpartum care, proper education and a robust support system.

The Solution

CURA helped Frederick Health launch Family Connects Frederick County, an evidence-based model of postpartum care that provides free in-home nurse visits to ensure the health of the mother and baby after birth.

Frederick Health Hospital received an allocation of $8 million dollars in grant funds over a four-year period from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to launch Family Connects Frederick County, a universal nurse home visiting program for residents of Frederick County, MD. The goal of this program was to provide direct health care support prior to 42 days postpartum to prevent pregnancy-related complications and decrease pregnancy-related deaths of African American women. This is done through the delivery of wellness visits and personalized referrals and resources for the mother and baby within the first three weeks of the postpartum period.

CURA Strategies supported Frederick Health Hospital in developing and launching Family Connects Frederick County on January 1, 2023 by:

• Providing day-to-day project management, logistical support​ and program oversight
• Planning and coordinating with implementation partners, contractors and relevant stakeholders, including community partners, nurse practitioners and maternity health experts​
• Recruiting and engaging with key stakeholders
• Managing all required programmatic reporting such as planning documents, budgeting materials and metrics reports
• Overseeing the quality improvement and evaluation elements of the program
• Providing strategic communications support​, including developing one-pagers, building a website landing page and hosting community outreach/educational events
• Recruiting and coordinating community alignment councils, key informant interviews, and listening sessions for families with lived experience​ to inform the program

The Results

Based on data reported between 01/01/2023-06/30/2023

Testimonials

Services