The Louis Regional Health Commission is a collaborative effort to improve access to healthcare and health outcomes in St. Louis. This initiative is a joint venture between the city, the state of Missouri, healthcare providers, and community members to ensure that uninsured and underinsured citizens have the opportunity to be as healthy as possible. The commission works to reduce gaps in care for these groups and to align the many health services and resources that are essential for their well-being.
Racial equity is also an important part of this mission, and the commission seeks partnerships to share the responsibility for achieving health equity. Louis Children's Hospital is a top-notch option for parents seeking medical care for their children, but it also invests in children's lives outside of the hospital environment. The Louis program is one way the hospital reaches out to St. Louis and connects with mothers, fathers, and other family members to help build and maintain family unity, reduce the high infant mortality rate, promote literacy, and increase access to healthcare. Any woman or family living in an area identified with zip code 22 who is pregnant or has a child up to 4 years old is eligible to participate at no cost. The Louis program has also introduced community centers as an extension of the hospital.
These centers are used to make family visits, organize events designed to meet the needs of members of the neighboring community, and introduce residents in the area to a wide variety of social services that are available to them. Events range from male participation classes to on-site job interview opportunities and more. Louis has been selected by the Reinvestment Fund and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to participate in the new Invest Health initiative. The For the Good of All initiative at Washington University's Brown School in St. Louis maintains an affiliation relationship with Parents as Teachers, which certifies its parent educators and collaborates with Nurses for Newborns to provide home nursing visits to families participating in the program.
Other organizations involved include Louis Community Development Administration, Louis Children's Hospital Foundation, Affinia Healthcare, CareSTL Health, Family Care Health Centers, and Fathers' Support Center of St. Louis.
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