Power of an unlikely collaboration: Detroit regional infant mortality reduction task force's initiative to “sew up the safety net for women & children”

Alarmed by persistently high infant mortality rates and disparities, the CEOs of four major, competing health systems in metro-Detroit committed their organizations to finding sustainable, collaborative solutions. In 2008, the Detroit Regional Infant Mortality Reduction Task Force formed with the mission of collaboratively reducing infant mortality, creating unprecedented levels of sustainable regional partnership. The Task Force is a public-private partnership including four health systems, three state and local health departments, two academic partners, and two non-government organizations. The Task Force since received $2.6 million in funding from four foundations and the health systems for “Sew Up the Safety Net for Women and Children” to connect the right women to the right places at the right times to reduce infant death. Numerous local organizations were engaged to provide infrastructure, assist with recruitment, provide data assessment and analysis, health care, and connections to address social determinants of health in numerous ways including housing, food access, transportation and education/employment. The collaboration of the Task Force contributes to the population's wellbeing by: -Connecting with non-traditional contributors to health such as education and employment services, grocery stores, public transportation, etc.; -Advocating for policy change towards improvement of social determinants of health and reimbursement of services provided by community health workers; -Sharing data/information across health systems, and with community/public health agencies and support services; and -Developing a social networking platform to enhance communication between systems and patients. To date, Sew Up the Safety Net has enrolled over 135 pregnant women and engaged hundreds of other women.