September is National Infant Mortality Awareness Month (NIMAM), a month to highlight the continued need to address the critical challenges impacting women's mental and physical health. 

Physicians CareConnection (PCC) has played a key role in reducing infant mortality rates by integrating maternal health resources and providing comprehensive support to pregnant women through the PCC Center for Optimal Care. 

PCC have focused on African American women, who face disproportionately high maternal and infant health risks, with a wholistic approach that includes culturally competent care coordination, high performing partnerships, and community-driven initiatives to remove barriers to essential healthcare services.

Key achievements in 2024 include: 

• Prenatal Care: PCC scheduled 363 prenatal appointments for pregnant women, ensuring timely care through partnerships with hospitals and providers. 
• Healthy Pregnancy Outcomes: 40 births, 29 (73%) were full term and 36 (90%) were healthy birth weight.
• Transportation Assistance: 738 one-way trips enabled women to attend critical medical appointments. 
• Housing Supports: Rent and utility payments for 60 vulnerable pregnant mothers alleviated stress during maternity leave, allowing for recovery and workforce reintegration. 
• Substance Use Treatment: PCC connected 26 women with treatment and recovery services, addressing substance use challenges.

Dedicated volunteers are vital to PCC’s life-saving work, and more health care providers are needed. We are seeking primary care provider volunteers to help us meet the growing demand for comprehensive healthcare services and ensure that more people in our community have access to the care they need and deserve.

To learn more:

• PCC website
• Volunteer information
  

Congratulations to Central Ohio Primary Care (COPC) for being awarded bronze level recognition from the American Medical Association’s Joy in Medicine program, which recognizes organizations for their work in physician well-being and burnout reduction, based on rigorous criteria. COPC, a 100% member of the CMA, is one of just five organizations in Ohio with a Joy in Medicine designation.

Stephanie Costa, MD, Jennifer Piela, and Mary-Lynn Niland, MD, accepted the honor at the American Conference on Physician Health on September 12 in Boston. Dr. Costa is the Physician Well-Being and Leadership Coach at COPC along with Alumni Director of the Physicians Leadership Academy (PLA). Dr. Niland serves as Director of Physician Well-Being and is also a PLA alumni.

“It has been intense but rewarding work to achieve these designations,” said Dr. Costa. “It is creating a positive shift in de-stigmatizing seeking mental health care and reducing systemic drivers of burnout.”

September is National Preparedness Month, a time to recognize the critical importance of planning, training, and coordination in keeping our communities safe. In central and southeast Ohio, no organization embodies this commitment more than COTS, an affiliate of the Columbus Medical Association.

For more than 30 years, COTS has been the backbone of trauma, emergency services, and preparedness coordination in central Ohio. Today, it leads the Emergency Preparedness Healthcare Coalition, serving 36 counties and more than 3.3 million Ohioans. Here are a few things you may not know:

• It’s not just about trauma. COTS began in 1995 as a trauma network, but today it coordinates trauma, emergency services, and emergency preparedness across hospitals, EMS, public health, and emergency management agencies.
  
• COTS keeps hospitals connected. All 65 hospitals and freestanding emergency departments in our region support COTS’ mission, along with every helicopter air ambulance agency. 
• They prepare for the unexpected. From tornadoes and infectious disease outbreaks to cyberattacks, blood shortages, and mass casualty incidents, COTS coordinated responses to more than 20 real-world no-notice events last year.
• COTS trains thousands every year. In 2024 alone, COTS educated nearly 3,000 people in trauma, emergency services, and preparedness, creating a standardized, coordinated approach across the region.
• It runs behind-the-scenes operations. Through tools like EMResource and EMTrack, and over 192 Healthcare Incident Liaison activations last year, COTS makes sure information flows and patients, families, and hospitals stay connected when crises hit.
• COTS is a coalition-builder. Nearly 1,000 partners, from hospitals and EMS to long-term care, dialysis, hospice, and law enforcement, rely on COTS to bring people together to plan, drill, and respond as one.

This month, we especially want to recognize the Emergency Preparedness and Response staff at COTS. Their tireless work ensures that when emergencies strike, whether planned events like the Arnold Sports Festival or unplanned crises like natural disasters, Ohio communities are never alone.

Preparedness is about people, planning, and partnerships. And thanks to COTS, our region has all three.

Together, we are good health. Together, we are prepared.