St. Luke Community Healthcare collaborates with several medical facilities and agencies across Lake County for a critical cause, and are approaching four years of facilitating the program called Wrapped in Hope.

It is a support program for pregnant women and postpartum mothers who suffer from drug addiction, mental health issues and past trauma. Wrapped in Hope aims to create a standardized care approach, involving both health care and support service agencies, for women dealing with these obstacles.

The Meadowlark Initiative, funded by the Montana Healthcare Foundation, recently awarded a $130,000 grant to St. Luke Community Healthcare to continue funding this program supporting moms and families through a coordinated, team-based approach to care.

According to information from the hospital, the money helps assist providers in offering the ‘right care at the right time’, improving maternal and family outcomes, reducing newborn drug exposure and keeping families together.

Through the Wrapped in Hope initiative, mothers struggling with addiction or mental health issues such as depression or anxiety, will receive a standardized care approach from a team composed of their doctor, behavioral health staff and a care navigator. This concept is already successfully utilized in many facilities across the state.

“St. Luke’s overall objective is to wrap all expectant mothers in hope,” CEO of St. Luke Community Healthcare Steve Todd said. “Generous funding from the Meadowlark initiative will allow our obstetric doctors to mobilize a caring and committed care team who support all moms, especially those who struggle with addiction and mental health issues throughout their pregnancy.”

Both St. Luke’s and Providence St. Joseph’s Medical Center began collecting data on newborns at risk for neonatal abstinence in 2015.

In the U.S., Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome was on a stark rise and Lake County saw that increase as well. In that year both hospitals recorded nearly 25% of babies born tested positive for drugs.

The collaborative project Wrapped in Hope, which has actively been creating better outcomes for those babies and mothers, came about in 2016 by means of a partnership between St. Luke Community Healthcare, Providence St. Joseph’s Medical Center, CSKT’s Tribal Health Department, Lake County Public Health and Kalispell Regional Medical Center.

Reporter Whitney England may be reached at wengland@dailyinterlake.com