Delaware Healthy Mother & Infant Consortium Announces New Members
DHMIC
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New members join the state organization dedicated to preventing infant and maternal mortality.
WILMINGTON, DE (Dec. 7, 2023) — The Delaware Healthy Mother & Infant Consortium (DHMIC) announces four new members joining in the statewide effort to prevent infant and maternal mortality and improve the health of women of childbearing age and infants throughout Delaware.
The DHMIC provides leadership and coordination of these efforts through its varied and far-reaching membership, committees, and work groups. In the next three to five years, DHMIC-appointed members would like to work with the community and partners to address the following aspirational goals:
- The elimination of disparities between White, Black, and Hispanic infant and maternal mortality.
- The reduction of pre-term birthrate from 11% to less than 7% to be the lowest in the country.
- The development of an innovative model of care that addresses both the health disparities and the reduction in pre-term births.
Newly appointed Chair and Vice-Chair of the DHMIC:
- Priscilla Mpasi, MD, FAAP, Chair
Dr. Mpasi is the Clinical Director, Complex Primary Care and Community Medicine; Assistant Medical Director, Clinically Integrated Network (Medicaid ACO); and a pediatrician with School-Based Health Centers, ChristianaCare Health Center - Tiffany Chalk, Vice-Chair
Mrs. Chalk is the Owner of Tiffany Chalk Events, adjunct Instructor at Delaware Technical Community College and has served in various capacities as a DHMIC member for 16 years.
The new DHMIC members are:
- Lindsay Ashkenase, MD, Well Woman Care, Maternal Mortality and Morbidity, and Social Determinants of Health committees.
Dr. Ashkenase is the Director of Women’s Health Services, Westside Family Healthcare, and practices family medicine at Westside Family Healthcare. - Alonna Berry, Representative of the Office of the Governor
Ms. Berry is the Director of Community and Family Services, Office of Governor John Carney. - Ray Fitzgerald, Co-Chair of Social Determinants of Health committee
Mr. Fitzgerald is the Executive Director, Wilmington Housing Authority. - Julius Mullen, Ed.D., LPCMH, Mental Health Therapist, Nonprofit Executive with expertise in trauma-informed care and diversity/equity/inclusion
Dr. Mullin is the Chief Inclusion Officer at Children & Families First.
“We welcome these new members and are excited for the knowledge, influence, and energy they bring to the DHMIC,” said Leah Jones Woodall, Section Chief, Family Health Systems, Delaware Division of Public Health.
“I am both thrilled and honored to assist in leading this dynamic and talented group,” said Priscilla Mpasi, MD, FAAP, Governor-appointed Chair of the DHMIC. “Together we can lead the way in guiding the improvement of maternal and infant health in Delaware.”
For more information, please visit the Delaware Healthy Mother & Infant Consortium (DHMIC) at Delaware Thrives (dethrives.com).
You can also find us on
CONTACT: Nancy D’Argenio,
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About the Delaware Healthy Mother & Infant Consortium
In 2005, the Delaware Infant Mortality Task Force’s final report put forth a three-year plan with 20 recommendations to reduce the high infant mortality rate in Delaware. The plan called for the creation of the Delaware Healthy Mother & Infant Consortium (DHMIC) to help ensure that stated directives were put into place. These directives include but are not limited to the following:
- Providing advice and support to state agencies, hospitals, and health care practitioners regarding their roles in reducing infant mortality and improving the health of infants and women of childbearing age.
- Facilitating collaborative partnerships among public health agencies, hospitals, health care practitioners, and all other interested agencies and organizations to carry out recommended infant mortality improvement strategies.
- Recommending standards of care to ensure the health of infants and women of childbearing age.
- Coordinating efforts to address disparities related to the health of infants and women of childbearing age.
- Overseeing the development and implementation of research activities to better understand the causes of infant mortality.
- Coordinating efforts to prevent conditions and behaviors that lead to poor health in infants and women of childbearing age.
- Recommending legislation and regulations that will enhance the health of infants and women of childbearing age.