Did you know today is National Recovery Day? The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) designated September as National Recovery Month to increase public awareness around mental health and addiction recovery.

You may know the Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council (DFWHC) as the voice of North Texas hospitals that drives education and quality initiatives, but did you know that the DFWHC Foundation is a key community partner supporting community health, workforce development, safety & quality, data collection and research?

Utilizing their repository of claims data from 110 hospitals in 16 North Texas counties, the DFWHC Foundation Community Health Collaborative created a workgroup on substance abuse and misuse. The Collaborative also designed a needs assessment that allows organizations like the March of Dimes to make data-driven decisions to inform our strategy down to the zip code level.

Mental health and substance use are both significant causes of maternal mortality. Stigma can affect care seeking behavior, compliance and engagement around treatment, and ultimately outcomes. The March of Dimes Beyond Labels professional education helps reduce health-related stigma so all moms can get the support and care they need.

Los Barrios Unidos is a Federally Qualified Health Center that offers behavioral health services in addition to prenatal and postpartum care. In honor of National Recovery Month, the March of Dimes and DFWHC worked together to select them as a RELIANT partner POWERING OUR COMMUNITY and treated the staff at the Singleton Boulevard Dallas location to lunch. May we all continue to empower one another and grow together!