According to March of Dimes report "Nowhere to Go: Maternity Care Deserts Across the US," more than 2.3 million women of reproductive age live in counties with limited or no access to maternity care services.
To address this care gap, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas recently helped launch the first Texas March of Dimes Mom & Baby Mobile Health Center® in Houston. A ribbon-cutting ceremony welcomed over 100 attendees, including community leaders and elected officials, who toured the unit that houses two exam rooms. It will be at The Landing in Houston every Wednesday. Memorial Hermann Health System, the clinical provider for the mobile health center, will determine the schedule based on needs.
The mobile health centers are critical to expanding health care access to women and children before, during and after pregnancy. As a national community-led effort, the mobile center program focuses on providing care to families in chronically underserved communities, regardless of immigration status or ability to pay.
The Houston mobile center joins a March of Dimes fleet that provides health care access, including pre-conception, pregnancy, postpartum and newborn interventions, as well as primary, wellness and preventive care, neighborhoods throughout the country.
BCBSTX became the primary funder of the van in September 2023 with a $1.2 million grant to the March of Dimes as part of its expanded Special Beginnings® program, which aims to improve maternal and infant health outcomes in Texas.
“One in eight babies are born too soon in Harris County, and that is just not acceptable,” says Jim Springfield, BCBSTX president. “Given our 95-year history in Texas, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas understands the unique needs and challenges faced across the state’s diverse regions, including the challenge of access to high-quality prenatal and maternal care. We’re committed to helping even more families with children not only survive but thrive, and we are so grateful for our relationships with March of Dimes and Memorial Hermann to leverage their expertise and talent to reach this shared goal.”
“We envision a world where every mom and baby are healthy, regardless of their geography, race, gender or income, but unfortunately that is just not the case,” says Jen Torres, March of Dimes senior executive director. “We appreciate that Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas and Memorial Hermann are focused on helping us move closer to our shared goal to close the health equity gap in underserved communities."
Mom & Baby Mobile Health Centers serve women in Tucson and Phoenix, Arizona; Columbus, Ohio; Washington D.C., and New York, New York. March of Dimes is working to launch additional centers in Cleveland and Southeast, Ohio, and Birmingham, Alabama.