
Building Better Communities: USA Health Childrenâs & Womenâs Hospital forms new partnership to teach community classes
USA Health Childrenâs & Womenâs Hospital has teamed up with the Mobile Public Library and the USA Alliance for Community Resilience to offer free family learning classes to the community.
By Brittany Otis
With a goal of providing vital health education, USA Health Childrenâs & Womenâs Hospital has teamed up with the Mobile Public Library and the USA Alliance for Community Resilience to offer free family learning classes to the community.
The classes include âEarly Learning with your Baby,â which advises parents and caregivers about the first few days with their newborn, and âFamily and Friends CPR,â which teaches basic life-saving skills. Classes are held at Childrenâs & Womenâs Hospital and Mobile Public Library locations.
As an added bonus of the partnership, every baby born at Childrenâs & Womenâs Hospital in 2020 will receive a âBright Beginningsâ bag that includes a book, brochure and a postcard that can be turned in for their baby's first library card.
âBeing part of the only academic medical center in the region, it is important at Childrenâs & Womenâs Hospital to educate our patients and the public on health topics â itâs what we do,â said Chris Jett, hospital administrator. âWe are excited to partner with the Mobile Public Library and the USA Alliance for Community Resilience to help bring these classes to the public.â
âThe mission of the Mobile Public Library is to support literacy and connect our community â and that goal is being fulfilled through our new partnership with Childrenâs & Womenâs Hospital,â said Sara McGough, manager of the Ben May Main Library. âOur partnership speaks to the goals of growing healthy babies and children by providing opportunities to educate parents and caregivers for support that will last a lifetime.â
The USA Alliance for Community Resilience, a group of USA faculty, staff and community partners, will also be teaching classes at the hospital and library locations on various health-related topics.
Candice Selwyn, Ph.D., a research assistant professor at the University of South Alabama College of Nursing and the chair of the USA Alliance for Community Resilience, said she hopes the new partnership will foster meaningful engagement across Mobile County. âOur team is dedicated to helping communities learn ways to improve their well-being and how to better care for not only themselves, but for their families as well.â
Childrenâs & Womenâs Hospital is located on 1700 Center Street in Mobile. The main branch of the Mobile Public Library is located on 701 Government Street in downtown Mobile.
To learn more about the partnership, contact Brooke Olson with Childrenâs & Womenâs Hospital at (251) 415-1289 or Sara McGough with the Ben May Main Mobile Public Library at (251) 340-1532.
To see a list of classes offered at Childrenâs & Womenâs Hospital including âEarly Learning with your Baby,â click here.