UnityPoint Health-Grinnell Regional Medical Center (GRMC) was awarded the Center of Excellence Grant by the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) for the 2022-2023 calendar year. The $212,500 grant is a targeted continuation of the IDPH grant of the same name, with the initial planning period monies presented to UnityPoint Health in December of 2021, and will continue to establish Iowa’s framework to sustain access to high-quality, obstetric (OB) services for rural populations.

“We’re very thankful to have received the second installment of funding to support our efforts to solidify and expand our maternal health services,” says Jennifer Havens, RN, MHA, FACHE, CEO of GRMC. “We are committed to the growth of our regional maternity services, including prenatal care and postpartum support.”

Focus areas of the Center of Excellence grant include rural maternal health needs in Iowa, Marshall, Poweshiek and Tama counties and maternity care services at GRMC. For the current grant period of June 2022 – June 2023, grant dollars are focused on maternal health outreach in Marshall and Poweshiek counties.

“Funds from the grant are allowing us to expand our public health outreach efforts, specific to postpartum home care visits and breastfeeding support,” says Shauna Callaway, RN, BSN, Director of Public Health at UnityPoint Health – Grinnell. “We continue to work with regional community partner agencies and healthcare providers to educate parents on the support available to them before, during and after the birth of a child.”

UnityPoint Health – Grinnell provides high-quality, close-to-home OB and maternity care to women in a six-county region where maternal health care can be difficult to access. Six certified lactation team members support patients through inpatient OB care, public health and clinics to provide education and one-on-one assistance for a breastfeeding parent, helping them reach their individual breastfeeding goals.

This fall, the OB providers at UnityPoint Health – Grinnell’s Family Practice Clinic and Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinic began OB outreach at the UnityPoint Health – Grinnell Montezuma Medical Clinic and the UnityPoint Health – Marshalltown Multi-Specialty Clinic, to bring OB care offerings closer to more parents-to-be in Marshall and Poweshiek counties. They are accepting new OB patients to be seen in Grinnell, Montezuma, and Marshalltown. Call (641) 236-2905 to schedule an appointment to see an OB provider in Grinnell, Montezuma or Marshalltown.

In 2020, 153 babies were born at GRMC followed by 202 babies in 2021 and 100 babies in the first six months of 2022. Learn more about maternity services, breastfeeding support, and OB outreach at UnityPoint Health – Grinnell by visiting unitypoint.org/grinnell/maternity.