For Immediate Release
May 26, 2005
Contact: Douglas Moore
(202) 225-6531
404-433-5561 - cell

Congressman Jim Marshall Announces Federal Assistance for Heart of Georgia Healthy Start

( Dublin, GA) – Congressman Jim Marshall announced that the Laurens County Board of Health will receive a $925,000 federal grant to continue the Heart of Georgia Health Start Program.

First funded in 1997, the Heart of Georgia’s Healthy Start focuses its efforts on reducing infant mortality rates. Prior to the program’s inception, white babies in the project area had an infant death rate of 8.1, while the infant death rate for black babies was 19.9, according to the Georgia Vital Statistics 1993 – 1995. In 2003, the numbers were significantly lower: the white infant mortality rate was 4.3 and the black rate was 9.6.

“Healthy Start is an excellent program and has done tremendous work to help our mothers and our babies and I’m proud to offer help whenever and wherever I can,” said Marshall.

According to the program’s director, Margaret Turner, the program has impacted nearly area 10,000 women and infants since inception. “We are so pleased to have the opportunity to continue our Healthy Start program,” she said. “Since the inception of our program in 1997, we have enrolled 9,083 women and infants. The infant mortality rates for our project area were some of the highest in the state when we began the program, however, the rates have dropped substantially during the past eight years that Healthy Start has been in place. We still have a lot of work ahead of us and will focus our attention to reducing disparities that impact the health of mothers and often lead to poor birth outcomes. I attribute our success to a dedicated staff and the support of community partners.”

Dr. Lawton Davis, Georgia’s South Central District Health Director, was pleased with the announcement of continued funding. “I am obviously delighted that our Healthy Start Program has been selected for continuation funding yet again,” he said. “In addition to producing significant and measurable improvement in the Infant Mortality rates throughout our ten-county district, this group of men and women has been the catalyst for bringing together the healthcare system throughout the area to address this problem with a unified manner.”

“This is a prime example of how effective a public – private coalition can and should be,” he said. “I’d like to thank Congressman Marshall for his support, and congratulate the Healthy Start Staff and Coalition for a job very well done.”