Women's Outpatient Center
population and invite you to Walk the WOC with us!
The OB/GYN residency clinic is housed within the Women’s Outpatient Center, a safety-net community clinic serving patients at risk for disparate health outcomes due to complex health needs and adverse social determinants of health. Approximately 700 patients from the WOC deliver at Ascension-St. Joseph each year, encompassing approximately 35% of all OB volume annually. Our multidisciplinary team includes a Medical Director, APNs, Social Workers, Prenatal Care Coordination (PNCC), Nurses, Medical Assistants, Community Health Workers, and other learners. In the clinic, residents play an integral role in coordinating patient care and ensuring patient understanding and access to their care plan.
Residents will receive comprehensive education on racial and ethnic disparities. The WOC employs social workers and care coordinators to specifically target social determinants of health to reduce health disparities. Residents work directly with these professionals in coordinating their patients’ care. Each newly pregnant patient meets one of our social workers or community health workers to evaluate any needs and provide resource connections in the community for housing, food, employment, etc. Mothers wishing to enroll in our Prenatal Care Coordination to receive additional personal education and management during their pregnancy can relate to one of our PNCCs to establish case management throughout their pregnancy and into the postpartum period. Many classes are offered, such as the Safe Sleep class. Participants in this class will receive a pack and play for attending the post-assessment. The clinic also offers a car seat safety class, where participants earn an infant or convertible car seat, and a breastfeeding class, where participants earn a hot/cold pack for aches and pains and a package of diapers. All items purchased for these classes come from generous donations.
Our residents also see patients for their gynecologic needs. Some of the services the WOC provides to patients are pelvic ultrasounds, complete management of abnormal pap smears, management of abnormal menses, menopausal symptoms, urinary incontinence, vaginal discharge, and so much more.
Specialized services at the WOC include:
- Early Access to Care, including walk-in pregnancy testing, and an educational/new patient appointment with a provider within one week.
- Stork’s Nest, a program designed to promote prenatal care and encourage healthy behaviors. Stork’s Nest clients earn points toward incentives such as maternity or baby care items through a variety of activities, including attending prenatal visits, participating in prenatal education classes, receiving recommended vaccinations and reducing risk behaviors.
- Baby Safe Sleep Program, educates parents about safe sleeping and provides free portable cribs to families in need.
- Car Seat Safety Initiative, participants receive a free car seat after learning how to install and use infant car seats properly.
- Prenatal Care Coordination (PNCC) provides access to additional support to high risk moms, 1:1 case management provided by social workers with specialized training. The program includes outreach, assessment, care plan development, ongoing care coordination and monitoring, health education and nutrition counseling. Referral to outside agencies for additional support.
- Condition Specific Food Initiative, provides healthy food options for pregnant persons diagnosed with anemia and gestational diabetes to educate and encourage healthy choices.
- Home blood pressure monitoring program supplies pregnant persons diagnosed with hypertension with a blood pressure cuff to monitor and report blood pressures from the comfort of home without needing to schedule an additional appointment.
- First Breath Smoking Cessation Program creates individualized smoking cessation plans for expectant mothers, including post-pregnancy follow-up and support.
- Child Care: The WOC provides supervised childcare during medical appointments, effectively eliminating a major barrier that prevents many mothers from accessing healthcare.
In FY24, the WOC was able to serve 436 car seat class participants and 392 safe sleep class participants.
Since September 2020, we have been partnering with local nursing school clinical groups to provide supervision for children for mothers who otherwise would be unable to attend their appointments. This has been a hugely successful endeavor and has allowed many mothers to attend appointments and receive the critical education they deserve. During this time, our maternal health navigators are also able to connect with the families and provide them with essential food and clothing items as needed, as well as coordinate any referrals that may require assistance.
