Philanthropist Bunting donates $500,000 to UM School of Nursing

Philanthropist and alumna Mary Catherine Bunting donated $500,000 to the the University of Maryland School of Nursing (UMSON) to help continue the work of UMSON’s Community and Public Health Environmental Initiative (CPHEI) to provide health oversight for children and families served by Baltimore City Early Head Start and Head Start centers.

Established in early 2016 with a $750,000 gift from Bunting, CPHEI is a collaborative effort with the Maryland Family Network to improve overall health and environmental health for EHS and HS center children from birth until age five through programs that support their mental, social and emotional development. CPHEI delivers health services to seven of eight EHS centers and seven of 47 HS centers; to date these efforts have benefited 2,675 children and their families.

Students and faculty from UMSON’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing and RN-to-BSN programs, entry-into-nursing Clinical Nurse Leader master’s option, Community/Public Health Nursing master’s specialty, and Doctor of Nursing Practice specialties participate in CPHEI as part of the School’s ongoing service learning commitment.

The latest funding will support CPHEI’s continued efforts, which include UMSON students and faculty reviewing more than 1,000 child health records and identifying children with chronic health conditions and those behind on preventative care required under Maryland’s Medicaid program. They have also provided direct care services — including health screenings, hearing and vision screenings, and blood pressure and body mass index checks — and home visits for children with chronic conditions such as asthma and for pregnant women and new mothers. They have offered 113 educational classes to parents, more than 60 classes to Early Head Start and Head Start staff, and 24 prenatal classes for members of the community. In addition, they have taught parents and staff how to access children’s patient portals to obtain health records.

Funding will also support CPHEI’s efforts to continue enabling Early Head Start and Head Start centers to become Eco-Healthy Child Care certified. Since 2016, with the help of CPHEI, all eight Early Head Start and Head Start centers have become Eco-Healthy Child Care certified by eliminating environmental health hazards in or around the facilities and pursuing free or low-cost environmentally healthy best practices.

Over the next five years, CPHEI looks forward to helping all 47 of Baltimore’s HS centers become Eco-Healthy Child Care certified and to continuing its work of providing nursing services in Early Head Start and Head Start centers. The initiative plans to engage in more special projects, such as the community garden at Waverly High School and to advocate for children’s health at the legislative level. CPHEI will also continue to disseminate its work to other professionals at state and national conferences and to form partnerships with organizations that support children’s environmental health.

— Daily Record staff