Wilson Health Receives CVS Health Community Grant

Wilson Health has received a CVS Health Community Grant for $17,000 to begin offering the BABY & ME™ Tobacco Free Program to patients. The Community Grants Program was created by CVS Health, as part of its commitment to help people achieve their best health by providing financial assistance to programs that are focused on smoking cessation and prevention. The grant is part of Be The First, CVS Health's $50 million, five-year initiative to help deliver the nation's first tobacco-free generation and extend the company's commitment to help people lead tobacco-free lives.

The BABY & ME™ Tobacco Free Program is a smoking cessation program created to reduce the burden of tobacco use on pregnant and post-partum women. Evidence shows that women who quit smoking are less likely to have premature and low-birth weight babies. In addition, maintaining smoking cessation after the baby is born extends the positive health outcomes for women and their families by reducing the damaging effects of secondhand smoke, resulting in healthier mothers and healthier babies.

Pregnant women that meet the criteria for the program are referred by their physician, obstetric/prenatal clinic, or other entity to the local BABY & ME™ Tobacco Free Program site. The local site arranges for the woman’s first appointment with a specialized counselor, who is trained by the BABY & ME™ Tobacco Free Program. At the first appointment, the woman receives information about the program and an initial intake session is performed. Each participant receives at least four prenatal cessation counseling sessions, support, and carbon monoxide (CO) monitoring, usually during a regular prenatal visit.

By attending prenatal cessation counseling sessions, the woman can qualify for a $25 diaper voucher. After the birth of the baby, the mother continues CO monitoring on a monthly basis and those women who continue to be smoke-free receive additional $25 monthly vouchers for diapers, for up to 6-12 months postpartum. The mother may use her voucher for any brand or size of diapers at the CVS Pharmacy located at 324 Fourth Street in Sidney.

“Increasing perinatal services and support for women expecting a child is of upmost importance at Wilson Health,” says Mary Moeller, Tobacco Treatment Specialist at Wilson Health. “The BABY & ME™ Tobacco Free Program is an evidence-based program that was created to reduce the burden of tobacco use by the pregnant and post-partum population. Women who smoke are more likely to have premature and low birth weight babies and this change in behavior also reduces the damaging effects of secondhand smoke during and after pregnancy resulting in healthier babies and mothers. At Wilson Health we are doing our best to help mothers give their babies the healthiest start possible.”

“As a pharmacy innovation company, we are committed to building healthier communities by helping people to quit smoking and lead tobacco-free lives,” said Eileen Howard Boone, senior vice president, Corporate Social Responsibility, CVS Health. “We are pleased to support the work that Wilson Health is doing in the community and we look forward to working with them in fulfilling their program’s mission.”

Wilson Health was selected to receive a grant through the CVS Health Community Grants 2016 application process. This year, grants were specifically awarded to smoking cessation programs offered in a community setting that are helping people lead tobacco-free lives and are reducing the prevalence of smoking.

Earlier this year, CVS Health announced Be The First, a five-year, $50 million initiative to help deliver the first tobacco-free generation and extend the company's commitment to helping people lead tobacco-free lives. With support and funding through CVS Health and the CVS Health Foundation, Be The First supports comprehensive education, advocacy, tobacco control and healthy behavior programming delivered by a group of national partner organizations. For more information about Be The First and CVS Health's broader commitment to tobacco-free living, please visit www.cvshealth.com/be-the-first.

For more information about the Baby & Me Tobacco Free program or Wilson Health’s Smoking Cessation program, please call Mary Moeller at (937) 498-5400.