Collaborative awarded $1.6 million

BEMIDJI, MN - Sanford Bemidji Medical Center (SBMC), in collaboration with Beltrami County Health and Human Services and Red Lake Family & Children's Services, announced today that they have secured more than $1.6 million in grant funding from PrimeWest Health's Community Reinvestment Grant Program, to reduce prenatal substance abuse in Beltrami, Clearwater and Hubbard County.

"PrimeWest Health is very excited about this project. We chose to fund this project because it tackles a very serious problem in the region using a well-designed plan carried out through a partnership of key local health care and human services providers," said Jim Przybilla, CEO, PrimeWest Health.

There is an increasingly common trend of substance abuse, specifically opiate use, during pregnancy across the nation. However, it is more evident in communities where there is a high poverty level and a high number of individuals on medical assistance programs. According to Sanford, in 2010 2.87 percent of newborns at SBMC were placed on a 72 hour hold, due to prenatal exposure to drugs and/or alcohol. In 2013 that number increased to 6.65 percent.

"We have all had first-hand experience with the sad realities that face mothers and infants who struggle with the impacts and outcomes of substance abuse during pregnancy. As a region we have to collaborate to improve these statistics, but more importantly to encourage healthier pregnancies, healthier children and healthier women," said Becky Secore, Director of Beltrami County Health and Human Services. "No one can fix this problem alone."

Over three years, the grant will fund a collaborative local program called Reducing Substance Abuse To Improve Pregnancy Outcomes. The program is designed to support sobriety during pregnancy and decrease the adverse effects of prenatal exposure to drugs and alcohol, resulting in Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) and Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) through education, awareness and early intervention. Emphasis will be placed on the program's development, beginning with the addition of a grant coordinator and three case managers employed by Sanford Bemidji, Beltrami County Health and Human Services and Red Lake Family and Children Services to provide intensive case management to individuals who exhibit a high risk or past evidence of substance abuse. It will also include the recruitment of a local substance abuse specialist medical provider.

Related story on Lakeland News: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnDjSGFAlW8