The Centering Healthcare Institute (CHI) has received $7.6m of funding from The Studio @ Blue Meridian to upscale its prenatal care model.
The funding has been earmarked for a three-year plan to expand CHI's CenteringPregnancy group prenatal care model, with a focus on serving Medicaid recipients and Black birthing patients.
CenteringPregnancy brings together pregnant women who are due around the same time and allows them to receive healthcare in a communal setting.
The investment will be channelled into four strategic areas over the next three years, with the aim to refine CHI's services and resources to maintain the integrity of the Centering model while ensuring its sustainability and community relevance.
CHI plans to explore partnerships and new services at the system level to reach priority populations, particularly through Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and health systems.
It also aims to create an organisational culture that prioritises learning and innovation, supporting the evolution of CHI's services and the development of plans for learning, evaluation and measurement at scale.
The ultimate goal is to establish CHI as a sustainable organisation that can achieve a greater impact through equity-centred practices.
The Studio @ Blue Meridian managing director, portfolio lead Lizz Pawlson said: “We were honoured to have Centering Healthcare Institute as a Studio investee.
“We are excited for the potential of their work to help support sustainable and equitable birth outcomes.”
CHI’s Centering model has been implemented in nearly 500 healthcare practice sites worldwide, treating 60,000 patients a year.
The evidence-based approach integrates interactive learning, health assessment and community building, which has been shown to foster positive health behaviours and outcomes.
CenteringPregnancy and CenteringParenting aim to offer quality care from pregnancy to the child's second year, while the CenteringHealthcare model extends to adult health conditions such as asthma, diabetes and opioid recovery.
