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H.E.L.P.

Health Education, Labor, and Partnerships

Bringing a new life into the world is a profound and vulnerable experience, even when everything goes smoothly. For the estimated 18,000 women of childbearing age living in rural and frontier communities across the GHN region, that experience can carry added layers of stress and uncertainty. Persistent OB/GYN shortages—or the absence of providers altogether—and up to 90 miles to reach a healthcare facility with labor and delivery services.

Maternal health is a growing concern in Washington State. According to the Washington State Department of Health’s Maternal Mortality Review Panel, maternal deaths are increasing, and most pregnancy-related deaths are preventable. Key challenges include limited access to care, gaps in care coordination, and financial barriers. These issues are worse in rural communities, where maternal death rates are higher than in urban areas. 

At GHN we partner with communities, providers, and families to build meaningful and sustainable solutions.

The HELP (Health Education, Labor, and Partnerships) Maternal, Child, and Family Access Initiative is designed to expand maternal health access, strengthen the rural health workforce, and deliver culturally responsive, wraparound services across elven counties and the Yakama Nation serving more than 810,000 residents. Through a Mobile Health Hub, HELP brings care directly to rural and underserved communities, connecting families to prenatal, postpartum, and ongoing health and social services that support healthy, stable families. HELP’s services cover Adams, Asotin, Benton, Columbia, Franklin, Garfield, Kittitas, Klickitat, Walla Walla, Whitman, Yakima, and the Yakama Nation.

HELP shifts the traditional care model by bringing resources to families rather than expecting families to navigate fragmented and disconnected systems on their own. A cross-sector, interdisciplinary team provides onsite screenings, enrolls eligible families in health insurance, connects them to nearby providers, and ensures timely referrals to appropriate levels of care. Trained doulas, community health workers, and navigators walk alongside families as they access healthcare, mental health support, and health-related social needs services—providing continuity, trust, and culturally responsive care grounded in partnership.

The initiative also strengthens the rural health workforce by creating and sustaining jobs, including community health workers, doulas, navigators, drivers, and support staff. These roles reinforce local labor pipelines and help retain skilled workers in communities that have experienced longstanding shortages.

Improved maternal health access helps address key barriers identified in Washington State. Timely prenatal and postpartum care supports better outcomes for mothers and infants. Addressing gaps in access, care coordination, and financial barriers can help reduce preventable complications, particularly for families in rural and underserved communities.

As the Mobile Health Hub travels across eleven counties and the Yakama Nation, it delivers essential healthcare while fostering community engagement and partnership development, ensuring that federal dollars continue to circulate through and strengthen the regional economy.

 Ultimately, the HELP Initiative is both a maternal health access strategy and a regional economic development investment—one rooted in health education, strengthened labor, and enduring partnerships that stabilize families and support the long-term vitality of rural Washington communities.