Founder of Bridget's Path urges restoration of $1M infant-vitality line item to keep residential infant-care center open

Jill Kingston, founder and president of Bridget’s Path, testified to the Senate Finance Committee that the nonprofit residential infant-care center provides inpatient, home-like medical care and wraparound services for newborns experiencing withdrawal from prenatal substance exposure. Kingston said the General Assembly included temporary language in the last budget directing the Ohio Department of Medicaid (ODM) and the Department of Children and Youth (DCY) to develop a sustainable reimbursement model; she said ODM’s rules are “almost effective” and DCY allocated infant-vitality funds for residential infant-care centers.

Kingston told senators that the Senate’s removal of $1,000,000 from the infant-vitality line item undermines the legislature’s prior directive and “makes it impossible for Bridges Path to sustain our work.” She said the center has cared for almost 300 babies and their families, that 85% of their babies avoid foster care compared with a roughly 70% chance of foster care for babies treated in NICUs, and that the program was reducing operations by 50% before the hearing because private donations were exhausted. Kingston asked senators to restore the $1,000,000 appropriation to allow the program to continue and invited members to visit the Dayton facility.

Why it matters: The witness tied a specific budget line-item removal to near-term program contraction and said that state-level budget language required in the prior biennial budget anticipated an ODM/DCY solution; removal of the funding would, she said, prevent the model from transitioning to sustainable state reimbursement.

Ending: Kingston said Bridget's Path would face closure without the funding and urged restoration of the infant-vitality appropriation in HB 96.