About Us
The Worcester Healthy Start Initiative is a city-wide program that is committed to providing maternal and child health services to residents of Worcester. The program was funded by the Maternal & Child Health Bureau of the Health and Human Services Administration to eliminate perinatal disparities and reduce infant mortality in Worcester. The Great Brook Valley Health Center has been the grantee agency for the program since it’s inception in the year 2000.
Each year the program enrolls nearly 1,000 pregnant women in Worcester and has served over 8,000 families to date. Worcester Healthy Start works with women and their families throughout the period of pregnancy and provides support until the child's second birthday.
The grantee agency, Great Brook Valley Health Center, sub-contracts with the Family Health Center of Worcester, University of Massachusetts Memorial Health Care and the Pernet Family Health Service. To be eligible to participate in the program, interested persons must reside in Worcester, should be pregnant or have a child that is less than 2 years old. All services are provided without cost to clients.
Main Goals of the WHSI
- To eliminate the racial health disparity in Worcester
- To increase the length of the interconceptional period for program participants
- To reduce the contributory factors to premature births
- To increase community input and participation in care
|
