OKANOGAN – Family Health Centers was awarded $100,000 by Molina Healthcare to support the development of a Center of Excellence for Maternity Services.

Collaboration is key to securing a more secure and sustainable future for maternity services in Okanogan County, says Family Health Centers in a recent press release. They say that included in this vision is a comprehensive obstetric support training and education program that will serve families from conception to early parenthood, and will increase physician retention while strengthening the OB provider pool in Okanogan County into the future.

North Valley Hospital in Tonasket recently stopped delivering babies due to a shortage of OB physicians and Three Rivers Hospital in Brewster plans on transitioning their OB services to Mid-Valley Hospital in Omak next year as well.

“For our debut of the Molina Fund, we are honored to support organizations such as Family Health Centers by providing innovation funding to implement and expand community-based initiatives that make health care more accessible,” said Peter Adler, President at Molina Healthcare of Washington. “Community-based organizations who are receiving Molina Fund innovation grants share Molina’s goal of improving health outcomes by reducing access barriers in each community.”

As the plans for transitioning OB services from Three Rivers Hospital to Mid-Valley Hospital next year, collaboration among health systems is underway to build a Maternity Center of Excellence that embodies the high-quality programs that each hospital has historically provided to expecting families in the county. Molina supports Family Health Centers’ initiative to build a more comprehensive system of care, bringing together community members, maternity care case managers, behavioral health providers and medical providers to support healthy childbirth. Local EMS staff will be trained in obstetrical basic life support and maternity care providers in obstetrical advanced life support.

“We are so grateful for Molina’s generous contribution to our organization,” said Jesús Hernández, Chief Executive Officer at Family Health Services. “This grant and partnership will enhance patient-centered maternity care for our patients across the county.”

Molina says it celebrates and supports the collaborative spirit in problem-solving this difficult issue and looks forward to serving their communities with the highest standard of care they deserve.