The Pennsylvania Association of Community Health Centers (PACHC) was awarded a $91,500 grant from the Highmark Foundation with a $20,000 donation from Highmark Wholecare to support a Maternal Self-Measured Blood Pressure (SMBP) Learning Collaborative for three health centers in PACHC's network - ChesPenn Health Services, Hamilton Health Center, and Primary Health Network.

PACHC is working with the Health Federation of Philadelphia (HFP) to provide technical support on the development of an SMBP program in these health centers for women who are within two years postpartum. This project will address barriers to care, such as transportation and child care, and re-engage postpartum women with primary care. Ultimately, it will seek to address the issue of maternal mortality, which includes women dying in the postpartum period and disproportionately affects women of color across the commonwealth.

The health centers are developing SMBP program implementation plans and will offer several educational sessions presented by subject matter experts. Participating health centers will receive a $25,000 stipend to support staffing, overhead costs, and administrative costs related to the Maternal SMBP Program Learning Collaborative, Bluetooth-enabled blood pressure cuffs, and access to a clinical portal. Project information will be collected and evaluated, and best practices will be shared statewide.