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Mercy Health credits neighborhood outreach for big drop in infant deaths in target Lucas County areas
Summary
Mercy Health presented its Getting Healthy Zone initiative to Lucas County commissioners, describing community-based services, partnerships and outreach it says helped reduce infant deaths in targeted ZIP codes from a 2018 baseline and reporting improved neighborhood health metrics.
Mercy Health representatives told the Lucas County Board of Commissioners on April 21 that their Getting Healthy Zone initiative — a neighborhood-focused, collective-impact program — has helped lower infant deaths and improve health indicators in the Cherry Street Corridor and adjacent ZIP codes.
The presenter described a two‑pronged approach that combines connecting pregnant women to services such as home visiting and pathways programs with neighborhood-level work addressing social determinants of health. “The Getting Healthy Zone is a community driven initiative working to increase infant vitality, improve the health of the community, and create a neighborhood where people want to live, work, and visit,” the Mercy Health representative said.
Why it matters: presenter materials and remarks framed the program as a long-term, partnership-based effort that targets early prenatal access, safe‑sleep education, breastfeeding support and chronic disease management while coordinating with local organizations and city partners. Mercy said it canvassed neighborhoods and held listening sessions beginning in 2018 to identify resident priorities.
Key claims and figures presented to the board included: Mercy said the areas it targets had the county's highest infant mortality in 2018; a 2023 resident survey reported 71% of residents believed neighborhood health, safety and resource access had improved; Mercy reported that infants from the ZIP codes it serves accounted for 12% of county infant deaths in 2018 and 2.5% in 2024. The presenter also reported that, among families participating in specified pathways programs, they had recorded zero infant deaths and that in Lucas County in 2024 the presenter cited an infant mortality figure of “8.6.” The presenter noted small numbers in the target ZIP codes led to suppression of some statistics.
Mercy described specific activities now in place: baby showers, monthly clinics for blood‑pressure and blood‑glucose screening at neighborhood sites, a five‑week chronic disease and diabetes management class that partners with the local YMCA and provides graduating participants with a complimentary Y membership, mobile mammography, nutrition and cooking education sessions, food-box distributions, community art and gardening programs, and distribution of firearm locks as part of a safe‑storage campaign.
The presenter pointed to housing and economic programs as well, including partnerships to place a financial coach in a neighborhood medical center and entrepreneurial training described as “Getting Your Business Rolling,” through which Mercy said 29 residents participated last year and 90 since the program began.
Board response and next steps: the board chair praised the focus on a limited geography and wraparound services, and commissioners expressed interest in seeing updated 2025 public‑health data when available. Mercy said it had not yet received 2025 county health‑department data but expects to continue the effort.
Context and caveats: numbers quoted at the meeting were presented by Mercy Health staff and not read from a county report in the hearing; Mercy noted some ZIP‑code statistics were suppressed because of low counts. The board did not take any formal action on the report beyond receiving the presentation.
