Lower Uninsured, STI, & Unintended Pregnancy in Milwaukee County

Expanding access to health insurance enrollment and reproductive care in Milwaukee County

Full Project Name:Lower Uninsured, STI, & Unintended Pregnancy by Integrating Services at Milwaukee County Health DepartmentsPrimary Community Organization:Health Care Education and Training (HCET)Primary Academic Partner:Allison L. Linton, MD, MPH, Obstetrics and GynecologyAward Amount:$450,000

Award Date

January2019

Project Duration:42 months

Project Description Narrative:

Milwaukee County represents 45.9% of Wisconsin's cases of sexually transmitted infections, yet access to STI testing and treatment, contraceptives, and resources to connect to insurance and a medical home are not equitable across communities. To support local health departments in assuring equitable access to low-cost sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing/treatment, contraception, and insurance project partners will develop and adopt policies and procedures to expand access to health insurance enrollment assistance and basic reproductive care for residents.

Community partners: Advocate Aurora, All Nations Bible Church, City of Greenfield Health Department, City of Oak Creek Health Department, City of South Milwaukee Health Department, City of West Allis Health Department, Cudahy Health Department, Divine Mercy Catholic Church and School, Drenzek Chiropractic, First Congregational Church, Franciscan Villa Child Day Care Center, Guidance Academy, March of Dimes, Mary Linsmeier Schools, Masjid Al-Huda South Milwaukee, Milwaukee Enrollment Services (MiLES), Oak Creek Board of Health, Oak Creek School District, Parkway Floral, Project Concern, Real Academy, School District of South Milwaukee, School District of South Milwaukee Nurse, Shared Journeys Charter School for Teen Parents, South Milwaukee Chamber of Commerce, South Milwaukee Common Council, South Milwaukee Community Member Representatives, South Milwaukee Fire Department, South Milwaukee Human Concerns, South Milwaukee KinderCare Learning Center, South Milwaukee Police Department, South Milwaukee Public Library, South Milwaukee School District Social Worker, South Milwaukee United Methodist Church, St. Luke's United Church of Christ, St. Marks Episcopal Church, St. Peter and Paul Polish Church, Trinity Lutheran Church, West Allis WIC, West Allis-West Milwaukee School District, Wisconsin Department of Health Service Division of Medicaid Services, Wisconsin Department of Health Services Reproductive Health Program, Wisconsin Department of Health Services STD Control Section, Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene, Zion Lutheran Church and School

Outcomes & Lessons Learned:

Supported all four participating local health departments to adjust clinic workflows and create new policies and procedures to begin offering services by the end of 2022, including STD testing and treatment, pregnancy testing, and referrals for primary and reproductive sexual health care
Provided six trainings to local health departments throughout the project to support integration of services focused on billing and coding, intimate partner violence and abuse, pregnancy testing and counseling, STI testing and treatment, and billing and coding
Updated and improved the toolkit and shared all resources online and through social media to support sustainability at the four participating local health departments and implementation at other local health departments in the future