Over $1M Awarded to Initiate Perinatal Behavioral Health Consultation and Access Programs Across Pennsylvania

With funding from the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services and the Pennsylvania Department of Health, the Jewish Healthcare Foundation (JHF) has awarded over $1 million across three regional grantees to standup a statewide perinatal behavioral health consultation and access program for providers in prenatal, labor/delivery, and postpartum care settings.

Earlier this year, Thriving PA released a report about Perinatal Psychiatric Access Programs, and over 25 maternal health groups across Pennsylvania prioritized this program in a collective plan in response to substance use disorders and mental health conditions continuing to be the leading causes of pregnancy-related deaths in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania will become the 30th state with this type of program.

The goals of the Perinatal Behavioral Health Consultation & Access Program during its first implementation year include creating the consultation, resource referral, and educational services for perinatal providers, educating providers about the services, and developing provider-to-provider relationships to achieve effective utilization of the services.

The regional grantees include:

• Southwest and Northwest: UPMC Western Psychiatric in partnership with UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital
• Lehigh/Capital and Northeast: Penn State University Hershey Medical Center
• Southeast: Philadelphia Department of Public Health in partnership with Penn Medicine’s Center for Addiction Medicine and Policy and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

JHF is operating as the fiscal agent for federal Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Funds provided through the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services to reduce maternal mortality, reduce maternal morbidity, and/or support new families in Pennsylvania. Funding for this program was also made available through the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s CDC grant, “Preventing Maternal Deaths: Supporting Maternal Mortality Review Committees.”

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About the Jewish Healthcare Foundation

The Jewish Healthcare Foundation (JHF) and its three operating arms — the Pittsburgh Regional Health Initiative (PRHI), Health Careers Futures (HCF), and the Women's Health Activist Movement Global (WHAMglobal) — offer a unique brand of activist philanthropy to advance healthcare innovation, advocacy, collaboration, and education in the interest of better health.