New Cardio-Obstetric Program Launches at NYC Health + Hospitals/Kings County

The new $1.2 million program will aim to reduce maternal mortality and morbidity among women of color by focusing on heart disease and its risk factors during and after pregnancy

Aug 29, 2024

New York, NY - NYC Health + Hospitals today announced the launch of a new $1.2 million Cardio-Obstetrics program to reduce maternal mortality and morbidity among women of color by focusing on heart disease during and after pregnancy. In New York State, Black women are 4 to 5 times more likely than white women to die during pregnancy or in the year after. More than 1 in 4 of maternal deaths nationwide are due to heart disease. The Cardio-Obstetric practice will target patients' heart disease or its risk factors, including hypertension, obesity, and diabetes, from the prenatal period for up to a year postpartum. The pilot program will be offered at NYC Health + Hospitals/Kings County, which serves a community with high rates of hypertension and other chronic diseases. The care team will include obstetricians, cardiologists, anesthesiologists, nurses, emergency department physicians, other specialists, as well as non-clinical staff in pediatrics and the emergency department. Two local community-based organizations, the Caribbean Women's Health Association and Life of Hope, will serve as initial sites in a larger community outreach strategy to provide health education in Central Brooklyn about heart disease during and after pregnancy, and support warm referrals to the program. The Cardio-Obstetrics program aligns with the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologist (ACOG) District II Safe Motherhood Initiative and is funded in part by Robin Hood.

"It is a national crisis that Black women in the U.S. have the highest maternal mortality rate," said NYC Health + Hospitals Chief Women's Health OfficerWendy Wilcox, MD, MPH, MBA, FACOG. "I am proud to say that NYC Health + Hospitals has been a leader in adopting obstetric safety and quality practices to improve maternal care since 2018. We are especially proud to introduce the Cardio-obstetric program at NYC Health + Hospitals/Kings County, since cardiac and coronary conditions are a leading underlying cause of pregnancy-related deaths among Black patients. This program is the latest installment in NYC Health + Hospital's comprehensive program to reduce maternal mortality and morbidity in NYC. We are grateful to the Robin Hood for supporting this most impactful work."

"By launching the Cardio-Obstetric program, we are not just tackling heart disease-we are redefining maternal care for women of color," said NYC Health + Hospitals/Kings County CEO Sheldon McLeod. "This initiative represents a transformative commitment to reducing disparities and saving lives, ensuring every mother has a fighting chance for a healthy pregnancy and future. We extend our heartfelt thanks to Robin Hood for their crucial support in making this vision possible; their partnership is instrumental in driving meaningful change."

"Cardiac dysfunction caused by hypertension and obesity can play a huge role in maternal mortality, but it's treatable and preventable," said NYC Health + Hospitals/Kings County CardiologistSuzette Graham-Hill, MD, the clinical lead of the new Cardio-Obstetrics program. "If cardiac conditions are left untreated, we are looking at a high-risk pregnancy, even in a young woman. That's why this collaboration is so groundbreaking and so important."

"Over the last four years, Robin Hood has invested $25 million to ensure that low-income, at-risk women, especially women of color, experience safe and empowering births. By investing in the new pilot cardio-obstetrics program at NYC Health + Hospitals in Kings County, we are taking our fight to reduce and eliminate escalating maternal mortality and morbidity rates to one of the highest-risk areas of the city. We believe our investment will improve birth outcomes, safeguarding at-risk mothers and newborn infants so they may realize better health and experience improved long-term economic outcomes," said Dr. Kelly Escobar, Managing Director of Early Childhood at Robin Hood, New York City's largest local poverty-fighting philanthropy.

The Cardio-Obstetric program at Kings County Hospital will support pregnant and postpartum patients in the following ways:

• Encourage pregnant patients to begin prenatal care as soon as possible, in particular through partnerships with local community-based organizations.
• Manage patients' hypertension, diabetes, and obesity, as well as other identified chronic conditions
• Address social determinants of health and encourage healthy lifestyle changes, including diet, exercise, and other factors through the Maternal Home
• Ensure connections to behavioral health supports.Encourage patients at 36 weeks of pregnancy to contact Virtual ExpressCare, the health system's on-demand telehealth service, to address emergent needs in real time with a board-certified clinician. Virtual ExpressCare's maternal and postpartum care will be available around the clock every day.

"Central Brooklyn is the center of the Black Maternal Health Crisis in NYC, in which the Black Immigrant population are disproportionally affected," said Christina Pardo, MD, MPH, Director of Life of Hope. "I applaud Kings County Hospital for not only developing innovative programs to address one of the leading causes of maternal mortality and morbidity, but for also centering families and community who face unique barriers to care. The underlying medical conditions represent one of the key contributors to disparities, and we look forward to partnering to ensure comprehensive support for families who face social and cultural barriers to care."

NYC Health + Hospitals' obstetric and gynecologic services include primary care, family planning, abortion care, prenatal through delivery care, midwifery and referrals for doula services, postpartum care, breastfeeding and lactation services, breast exams, nutrition, behavioral health referrals, preventive care, and vaccinations. Nearly 16,000 children are born at NYC Health + Hospitals each year. Gynecology services include menopause and fibroid treatments, as well as specialty practices for gynecologic cancers, pelvic pain, and endometriosis. Patients wishing to make an appointment can call 844-NYC-4NYC.

If you would like to donate to NYC Health + Hospitals, please visit this link on our website.

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About NYC Health + Hospitals/Kings County
NYC Health + Hospitals/Kings County is a 639-bed acute care teaching hospital located in Central Brooklyn. Among our highly specialized programs are a Level I Trauma Center, Pediatric Emergency Room, Level 3 Perinatal Center, Heart Health Center, Stroke Center, Sickle Cell Program, Behavioral Health Center, and Diabetes Education Center of Excellence. Many of our programs have received national recognition, including our cardiac, stroke and diabetes services. The hospital offers a broad array of primary and specialty care, including practices in neuroscience, orthopedics, urology and cardiology. Annually, our ambulatory care practices see well over 500,000 visits, and more than 150,000 visits in the Behavioral Health outpatient program, in addition to close to 23,000 inpatient discharges. NYC Health + Hospitals/Kings County has played a major role in providing health care to vulnerable populations in Brooklyn since 1831, and is part of NYC Health + Hospitals, the largest public health care system in the nation. For more information visit, www.nychealthandhospitals.org/kingscounty and stay connected on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/KingsCountyHosp or X (formerly known as Twitter) at @KingsCountyHosp.

About NYC Health + Hospitals
NYC Health + Hospitals is the largest municipal health care system in the nation serving more than a million New Yorkers annually in more than 70 patient care locations across the city's five boroughs. A robust network of outpatient, neighborhood-based primary and specialty care centers anchors care coordination with the system's trauma centers, nursing homes, post-acute care centers, home care agency, and MetroPlus health plan-all supported by 11 essential hospitals. Its diverse workforce of more than 43,000 employees is uniquely focused on empowering New Yorkers, without exception, to live the healthiest life possible. For more information, visit www.nychealthandhospitals.org and stay connected on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.

About Robin Hood
We are NYC's largest local poverty-fighting philanthropy and since 1988, we have invested nearly $3 billion to elevate and fuel New Yorkers' permanent escapes from poverty. In 2023, through grantmaking with 250+ community partners, we created pathways to opportunities out of poverty through our strategic partnerships on child care, child poverty, jobs, living wages, and more. We are scaling impact at a population level for the nearly 2 million New Yorkers living in poverty. At Robin Hood, we believe your starting point in life should not define where you end up. To learn more about our work and impact, follow us on X @RobinHoodNYC or go to robinhood.org.

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