Amanda Wilde (Host): One on One with Regional One Health is your inside look at how we're building healthier tomorrows for our patients and our community. Join us as we get to know some of the individuals who help provide life-saving, life-changing care for our community.

Today, we're talking to Jehan Ellis, Program Manager for the Maternal One Model or MOM Program at Regional One Health. This program helps new moms access medical care and social support so they can build healthier lives for themselves and their families. I'm your host, Amanda Wilde. And welcome, Johan. Thank you for being here.

Jehan Ellis: Thank you. I'm very appreciative to be able to do the podcast with you today.

Host: I'm really curious about the program. Can you start off by telling us who the MOM Program is designed for and what services does it provide?

Jehan Ellis: Well, it's a grant-funded program. it was actually written by Lilly Cooper, which is our Director of Women's Services, and she wanted to mimic the same services that were being provided in our inpatient setting with our complex care department. So, the grant was specifically written for our OB ED patients, those that are seeking care through our Emergency Department of the Women's Center of Rout, and we set out to screen these patients and find those that are at the highest risk for services.

Host: So, those folks are your main focus.

Jehan Ellis: Yes. So, our main focus is our OB ED patients that are coming through our women's triage department.

Host: So, tell me more about what services you provide and how that helps patients improve their own health and quality of life.

Jehan Ellis: So, we have a care team, and it has two social workers. And those social workers screen our OB ED patients, so we screen those that are in our Evaluations Department, Labor and Delivery, Antepartum, and Postpartum. And what we do is we assess them for a set of criteria, and the criteria consist of self-pay, no insurance, if they're low income or under-resourced, if they have substance use issues, mental illness, specifically, if they're under 18 years of age, even though we can enroll anyone up to the age of 32 or even older; if they have a high-risk pregnancy, such as HELLP syndrome, sickle cell, preeclampsia, any of those type of high-risk obstetrical histories, no prenatal care, or even late prenatal care. So, we screen them. And if they meet three or more of those criteria, then we want to enroll them into our program.

And so, the social workers look at our enrollment every day, Monday through Friday. And even then, we do have some of our nurse practitioners or midwives or even our postpartum nurses that will make referrals to us after hours or even on the weekends for moms that might be at high risk.

Host: And so, this is an open door for the highest risk moms to benefit from the expertise of medical professionals.

Jehan Ellis: Yes. So, what we do is we enroll our moms into these programs, specifically to bridge the gap and help them to be connected to community agencies and provide them with medical and social support services.

Host: Do you find this also not only improves the situation for the patient, but for the rest of the family?

Jehan Ellis: Oh, absolutely. We know that if mom can't take care of herself, then she can't take care of her family. So, we want to make sure she has adequate nutrition. We want to make sure, even if that means that one of our services is meal delivery service, so we're able to bridge that gap for food insecurities. We're able to provide them with transportation services to and from their doctor's appointments or social security office, whatever they need.

If they are about to be evicted from their home or can't make their utility payments, we have funding to assist them with utility assistance. So, it definitely makes a great impact, in order to build a foundation of better health, not only for themselves, but for their families and overall just improve their overall health and quality of life.

Host: And going further, that help radiates from the patient into the family. And would you say also into the community? Does the program benefit the Memphis community as a whole?

Jehan Ellis: Yes. So, we know that as a whole for our pregnant moms, we have a high incidence of maternal mortality or morbidity as well as high prematurity rates. So, this program is designed to hopefully, by the end of the program date, by the end of June of 2026, we here at Regional One would like to see a decrease in our prematurity rates as well as our maternal morbidity rates.

Host: You've been working with moms through this program for a little while now. What type of feedback are you getting from your clients?

Jehan Ellis: It's an enormous amount of feedback. So, our social workers, they help to navigate the mothers through a complex healthcare system and connect them with these community support agencies, but they're also their mentor. So, they're there to actively listen to them. and to be their friend, but also provide that encouragement and the support that they need. And we have seen in text messages that we have received back from our mothers, just how grateful they are that someone just listened to them and was able to help them. And again, there's a multitude of community services out there in the community, but it's fragmented.

So, our social workers are really there to help bridge that gap, and they tailor the services to meet the client's needs. So, again, they're like a mentor, they have these trusting relationships. We have funding for diapers and wipes and formulas. So when they're in need of anything, they give us a call and we are right there to provide them with assistance. So, we have not only met their needs, but we've also we're breaking down those generational perceptions of healthcare from one generation to the next.

Host: And by being personal and individualized in the care, these folks never have to feel alone, so you must be seeing great improvements in their lives.

Jehan Ellis: Oh, absolutely. We have moms that are as young as 14 years old that we have encouraged to go back to school, that we have sent meals out to. We have some that are undocumented mothers that we have helped guide them through with legal assistance to try to become legal residents of the U.S. We have found that this program was absolutely needed, especially as a Shelby County Hospital, we see a lot of the impoverished of the community, and we have just seen the benefits of this program with helping those that are in the community.

Host: Well, you may have just answered this, Jehan, what do you find personally most rewarding about this work?

Jehan Ellis: The most rewarding thing, the other day, for example, we had a mom who was here, a mom in our program, but the baby's father was actually admitted into the hospital. And while she was here, she was just in need of a car seat, so just being able to bring her that car seat, seeing that smile on her face, getting that hug, and just them knowing that someone is there to help them, to love them, to care for them, to encourage them. And I think by far, that is the most rewarding thing.

Host: Yeah, you've got their back. What are some of your goals and plans for the future of the MOM Program?

Jehan Ellis: Right now, we've enrolled 50 clients. So, our goal is to enroll up to 125 clients by the end of June of 2025. As far as future goals, we want to see this program become sustainable at Regional One Health. So, even though we're under grant funding until June 30th of 2026, we're already finding ways and the data is already being produced to show the benefits of this program, not only for the moms at Regional One, but for the moms in the community. Because even though they may come and deliver at Regional One and be enrolled in our program, they might actually be seeking care through another private doctor. So, they may be going to Christ Community or Choices. So, we're not only affecting those that are seeking care at Regional One, but we're also affecting the care of those within the community.

Host: So, ensure funding for the program is a goal and reaching even more people and having that radiate out into the community.

Jehan Ellis: Yes.

Host: A really thoughtful safety net and resource and support for high-risk moms. This is truly profound. Thank you for explaining the MOM Program, Jehan.

Jehan Ellis: Thank you.

Host: That was Jehan Ellis, Program Manager for the Maternal One Model or MOM, Program at Regional One Health.

Thanks for making One on One with Regional One Health, part of your journey to better health. Join us next time as we introduce you to another member of the Regional One Health Family. Learn more about the Maternal One Model Program by calling 901-545-8142 or emailing maternaloneprogram@regionalonehealth.org.