Abstract
Purpose
Detroit experiences the highest preterm birth rate and some of the worst birth outcomes in the country. Women and children have extremely high levels of poverty and face numerous barriers to care including lack of trust and racial disparities in care and concrete barriers such as limited transportation and childcare, work hour conflicts, and lack of insurance.
Description
We report on a unique model of patient care focused on providing patient-centered care and building trusting relationships. This model is encompassed in a new free, volunteer-run, faith-based clinic which offers prenatal, postpartum, and infant care.
Assessment
In the first 2 years of operation, demand for services rose rapidly and there were stellar clinical outcomes, despite the fact that Luke patients are among the medically and socially highest risk populations in the nation.
Conclusion
While marginalized populations have worse birth outcomes and far more infant deaths, making care accessible and responsive to patient needs while focusing on building patient relationships is an important strategy to improve outcomes.
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Acknowledgements
The University of Michigan Department of Family Medicine funds 10% of Dr. Gold's time to support her work as the Medical Director at Luke Clinic and to supervise resident rotations at the clinic. Rev. Garrison serves as the unpaid Executive Director and Ms. Garrison serves as the unpaid Clinical Coordinator and Administrative Director. Ms. Armbruster serves as the unpaid Volunteer Coordinator. The authors are grateful to Ms. Katie Grode for her help with manuscript formatting and to the volunteers at Luke Clinic for their compassionate patient care.
Funding
No author has any other financial relationships relative to this article to declare. No funding was provided for this research.
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Gold, K.J., Garrison, B., Garrison, S. et al. A Novel Model for a Free Clinic for Prenatal and Infant Care in Detroit. Matern Child Health J 24, 817–822 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-020-02927-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-020-02927-1