Community Health Northwest Florida has moved its women’s care clinic to its main campus on Jackson Street.
“Jackson Street is our main service site where we already had pediatric services and family practice, and last year we were able to install a 3D mammography unit at that location,” Community Health CEO Chandra Smiley said on WCOA this morning. “So it made sense from a holistic approach to relocate that clinic from Airport Boulevard over to Jackson Street.”
She continued, “Plus, we all know the 32505 zip code is a zip code where there are many challenges related to access. And knowing that access to women’s care services and prenatal services are important for our population, we wanted to bring that service to that zip code.”
Why this matters: The UWF Haas Center’s Pockets of Poverty map shows that a high percentage of the residents in the census tracts surrounding the campus at 2315 West Jackson Street are living in poverty.
In its Needs Assessment, the Escambia Children’s Trust identified four critical indicators that must improve – infant mortality, low-birth weight, prenatal care and teen pregnancy.
Infant mortality: In Escambia County today and over the past decade, Black mothers are nearly three times as likely to have an infant who dies before their first birthday as White mothers.
Low birth weight: Low birthweight infants can have mild to moderate impairments of vision, hearing or speech; tend to score lower in verbal processing and reading assessments, suffer from emotional and behavioral problems, and repeat one or more grades in school.
Prenatal care: More White and Black mothers in Escambia are having babies with little to no prenatal care than 20 years ago. The rate for White mothers has quadrupled since 2001 while the rate for Black mothers has more than doubled.
Teen pregnancy: Babies born to teens may be at greater risk for preterm delivery, low birth weight, and neonatal mortality.
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