Claudia and Lucas' Story
May 25, 2021Teaming Up for Healthy Beginnings
Lucas Mejia Ruano is a strong, healthy infant with a happy, active family. But at the time of his difficult birth in May 2019 at Holy Cross Hospital, his future was less than certain.
Lucas’ mother, Claudia, received perinatal care at Holy Cross Hospital’s OB/GYN Clinic. This clinic, along with Holy Cross Germantown Hospital’s OB Clinic, provides critical prenatal and follow-up care to women with no health insurance and limited financial resources. This resource is partially funded through the Maternity Partnership Program, a collaborative agreement between Holy Cross Health and the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services. Holy Cross Health has provided care to more than 23,000 women through this partnership since 1999.
At six months, Claudia began having early contractions. When her water broke at 32 weeks, Claudia was admitted to Holy Cross Hospital’s High-Risk Perinatal Center for observation. When Lucas presented in the high-risk breech position, Claudia was hurried to surgery for a C-section. The delivery went well, and Lucas, born prematurely, was sent to the NICU for his first two weeks of life.
"I put my faith first in God, and second in my Holy Cross Hospital team," said Claudia.
After her discharge, Claudia was able to visit Lucas at any time, and even streamed images of him on her phone, thanks to a special and secure NICU video camera. Once home, Lucas’s quality care continued, with two follow-up examinations by Holy Cross Private Home Services, and ongoing primary care for Claudia at the Holy Cross Health Center in Germantown.
Our Valued Partners
Holy Cross Health works closely with partners and generous donors to meet the preventive, clinical and health management needs of those in financial need, at every stage of life. Among our initiatives are free or low-cost fitness programs for seniors, disease self-management programs for adults with chronic disease, and our four Health Centers, which provide affordable primary care to those facing health care coverage and financial difficulties. Our partners include:
- Maternity and Early Childhood: Catholic Charities Sanctuaries for Life; DC Diaper Bank; Maternity Partnership Program; Montgomery Moving Forward; Reach Out and Read; Germantown Boys & Girls Club; Centro Nía; Linkages to Learning; Montgomery County Safe Kids Coalition & Child Passenger Safety
- Senior Care: Asbury Methodist Village; Maryland Department of Aging; Montgomery County Area Agency on Aging
- Primary Care: Care for Kids; Montgomery Cares; Primary Care Coalition; University of Maryland
- Montgomery (MC) and Prince George’s Counties (PGC): MC Fire and Rescue Services; MC Emergency Medical Services; Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems; Housing Opportunities Commission of MC; MC Department of Health and Human Services; MC Department of Recreation; PGC Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department
- Community Health: Healthy Montgomery; Institute for Public Health Innovation; Montgomery County Food Council; ARC of Montgomery County; Thriving Germantown; Family Services, Inc.; EveryMind; Community Ministries of Rockville
- Health Insurance and Finance: HealthFirst Financial; Maryland Physicians Care; Kaiser Permanente
- Education: Montgomery College; Montgomery County Public Schools