Having a baby can be overwhelming, and having a nurse available to listen, answer questions, and offer information can make things a little easier. A three-year grant from the Arrowhead Health Alliance, a coalition of four northeastern Minnesota counties, is providing a new opportunity for families who are expecting babies or who have infants in the home.
Cook County Public Health & Human Services Care Coordinator Amy Lacina, RN, is available to visit the home, make basic health assessments, and provide information, support, and referrals for other resources the family might want. Lacina has information on many things, including mother and child nutritional needs, fetal development, labor and delivery, breastfeeding, car seats, lead exposure, and parenting.
The new program, just getting underway this month, is called the “Universal Family Home Visiting Program.” Much of what Lacina does is coordinated with Blue Plus and U Care insurance programs for families on Minnesota Care, which Lacina said is available to a large percentage of young families in the county. Her services are available free of charge to those not on these plans as well.
Lacina’s job with Public Health & Human Services started out with a program that helps coordinate services for people ages 65 and over who are on Blue Plus or U Care insurance through Minnesota Senior Health Options. Her job was expanded in November 2008 to include maternal and child health, and it is funded almost entirely by sources outside the county.
Lacina assists or helps coordinate numerous other programs such as the Follow Along Program that uses questionnaires to monitor the development of children from four to 36 months old (31 families are currently enrolled); Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) nutrition clinics; and Early Childhood Screening for children entering the school system.
Sawtooth Mountain Clinic patients receiving prenatal care meet with nurse Teresa Borak, who offers to refer them for a free visit from Lacina regardless of their insurance coverage. People on Blue Plus or U Care health insurance qualify for free car seats and breast pumps through the Universal Family Home Visiting Program.
When asked how interested she thinks the insurance companies are in paying for preventive care, Lacina said prevention “is up and coming. The trend is there.” The insurance companies she works with are encouraging annual physicals and vaccinations.
Lacina is one of several certified Child Safety Technicians in the county, people who are trained to teach proper installation of car seats. She and Christine Kunze of North Shore Hospital are available to consult with families wanting to make sure their car seats are installed safely.
Other certified Child Safety Technicians can be found at Grand Portage Health Services (475-2235). Nurse Jennifer Schulz at Grand Portage Health Services said they also have a maternal/child health program that offers resources for residents of Grand Portage, many of which are free. They provide prenatal health care, home visits, WIC clinics, postpartum and early childhood home visiting, free car seats and installation consults, and immunizations, including H1N1 vaccines.
In 2009, Lacina received 23 referrals for pregnant women or those who had just had a baby and 35 referrals for lead testing, two that found elevated lead levels in babies or young children. Twenty-one car seats and four breast pumps were given to Blue Plus or U-Care members.
It sounds like Lacina is enjoying her expanded public health duties. She and her husband David, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer, plan to stick around for quite awhile with their two children, Daphne and Brody.
Lacina can be reached at Cook County Public Health & Human Services, 387- 3620.
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