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Bridges for Newborns Program Serves 29,000 Families in Orange County
by Amy Starr

Over the past 22 months, 29,000 newborns and their families have better health care options as a result of the Bridges for Newborns program at 12 participating hospitals in Orange County. The program is funded by Proposition 10 through the Children and Families Commission of Orange County. The Commission, which decides how the county's share of Proposition 10 revenues are distributed, funds programs that ensure the overall physical, social, emotional, and intellectual health of children during the prenatal period to age 5.

The Healthcare Association of Southern California (HASC) administers the program by coordinating the participating hospitals' mission to carry out the program's goal to assist participants in completing the following two objectives on behalf of the newborn:

1. Obtain health coverage
2. Identify and use a consistent healthcare provider, provider group, or community clinic for the newborn/infant

Once newborns are insured and have received their first well-baby checkup, and their immunizations are up to date within 90 days of birth, they have secured a vital link to a health care home. This linkage is a critical precursor to school readiness, which is a major goal of the Children and Families Commission of Orange County.

Contact: Amy Starr
astarr@hasc.org
(714) 750-0788

Bridges Provides Venue for Launch of State's New Parents Kit

On December 4th, Bridges staff at Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian hosted a media event for the presentation of the New Parents Kit to newborns and their families. Produced by the State of California and referred to as the "Baby Kit," these instructional tools have been eagerly anticipated by the 12 participating Bridges hospitals for the past year. They are now available in English and Spanish and will soon also be available in Vietnamese. The Baby Kit is a colorful box full of instructional materials and videos on subjects ranging from child safety to nutrition and literacy. The appreciative parents receiving their Baby Kit at bedside at Hoag Hospital on December 4th in front of the press exclaimed how they wished that the kit had been available for the birth of their first child.

Equipped with the resources the kit provides, parents learn in the comfort of their own homes about parenting essentials such as the importance of timely immunizations and the need to establish a medical home for their baby. The Bridges for Newborns program was selected by the State as a vehicle for the distribution of the Baby Kits because the kits are a natural fit with the objectives of Bridges -- to increase the proportion of newborns who are insured and have a health care home. Funded by Proposition 10, Bridges for Newborns assists families by assessing their resources and linking them with providers in their community to meet their medical, social, and educational needs. Bridges staff maintains this vital link with newborns and their families during the first 2-4 months after the newborn's birth.

With the help of the 12 participating Bridges hospitals, the kits will now be available to newborns and their families throughout the county.

The Bridges for Newborns program is one of the many positive outcomes of the Orange County Health Needs Assessment (OCHNA), a countywide survey conducted under the leadership of the Healthcare Association of Southern California and the Health Care Agency of Orange County in partnership with hospitals, CalOPTIMA, the Coalition of Orange County Community Clinics and other health-related private foundations and organizations, including the Health Care Council of Orange County.
For additional information about the OCHNA, see the website: www.ochna.org or call (714) 547-3631

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