Cleveland and Cuyahoga County’s high infant-mortality rates have spurred a commitment by area hospitals, governments and charitable groups to work together for a solution. Today these officials signed a pact aimed reducing at Cleveland’s infant mortality rate, which is twice the national average.
About 13 of every babies born in Cleveland die before they turn 1 year old. Black neighborhoods are hit the hardest. Members of the partnership called “First Year Cleveland” will assemble and guide a task-force of area health, faith, law enforcement and social service agencies. By early next year, that task force will start development of a plan to combine efforts to lower that rate. Cleveland City Council President Kevin Kelly helped initiate the effort.
“We have to be better at coordinating services, we have to identify deficiencies, and we have to identify and find the resources to effectively attack this terrible problem. That’s why we’re here today.”
Cleveland’s infant mortality rate effort is modeled after one started two years ago in Cincinnati.
