The Bridges Maternal Child Health Network (MCHN), under the management of Orangewood Children’s Foundation (OCF) and funding from the Children and Families Commission of Orange County (CFCOC), provides a multi-disciplinary system of care to improve the health and well-being of pregnant women and young children 0-5 years of age throughout Orange County. MCHN recently released its Fiscal Year 2011-12 report.Among the top findings: Orangewood Children’s Foundation, in partnership with HASC, facilitated coordination between Bridges Hospitals and Infant Home Visitation to ensure improved bedside screening and appropriate referrals. As a result, referrals to this program increased by 78 percent over FY 2010-11.

Other key findings from the report:

• Health Access Promotion Program and Infant and Toddler Home Visitation Programs served a total of 2,649 families with 3,070 children 0-5 years of age.
• Bridges hospitals served 10,019 pregnant women through prenatal outreach activities.
• Bridges hospitals provided 23,878 out–of-network referrals to families with newborns.

The program also addressed and produced positive results in several other areas of health care, including:

• Health insurance and medical home (803 or 94 percent of children 0-3 years of age were linked to health insurance programs and 830 or 98 percent were linked to a medical home)
• Referrals and linkages (9,091 referrals provided to families with young children through Home Visitation Programs)
• Breastfeeding (16,085 mothers received breastfeeding education, intervention and support through Bridges MCHN Hospitals and Home Visitation Programs)
• Developmental screening (2,196 children aged 0-5 received developmental screenings through Bridges MCHN Home Visitation Programs)

For more information, please contact Ana Reza, (714) 750-2685 or areza@hasc.org.