Baby Gateway Newborn Enrollment Program
Santa Cruz County’s newborns are getting connected to medical care
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​First 5 Santa Cruz County’s Baby Gateway Newborn Enrollment Program supports mothers and their newborns at three Santa Cruz County hospitals. Before leaving the hospital, families are visited by a Newborn Enrollment Coordinator and given the First 5 California Kit for New Parents. Families who are eligible are provided with Medi-Cal enrollment assistance and their newborns are linked to a medical home.
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Our Newborn Enrollment Coordinator (NEC) assists with:
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Enrolling a Medi-Cal covered mother’s newborn into Medi-Cal. Form completed allows the newborn to access full-scope Medi-Cal coverage for one year.
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Adding the newborn to the family’s existing CalFresh case.
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Connecting the newborn to a Primary Care Physician.
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Helping new moms make their baby’s first well visit appointment. Newborn Enrollment Coordinator keeps an updated list of doctors who are accepting new Medi-Cal patients.
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Provide all mothers with a First 5 California Kit for New Parents.
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Through these efforts, the program is helping to increase access to affordable
quality health care for newborns and improve overall maternal, child, and infant health.
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Connecting to medical care
During 2022-23, the Baby Gateway Newborn Enrollment Program provided 99% of all mothers with a newborn visit while in the hospital (or via phone), and 98% of these mothers received a First 5 California Kit for New Parents. Of all mothers with births paid by Medi-Cal, nearly all were assisted to complete a Medi-Cal Newborn Referral application for their new baby, and 99.9% of these mothers identified a preferred primary care provider (PCP) or clinic for their child before discharge from the hospital.
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The Baby Gateway Newborn Enrollment Program also expanded partnerships
with key agencies to offer additional supports to families.
State-wide student identification number: The State-wide Student Identification number (SSID) created for newborns by the County Office of Education, is used to support the social, emotional, and academic development of children from birth through grade 12. The Baby Gateway Newborn Enrollment team offer parents the opportunity to complete the necessary paperwork for their child to be assigned a SSID before they are discharged from the hospital. Learn more:
Semillitas: We share information about the Semillitas program at each newborn visit. Semillitas, a program of Santa Cruz Community Ventures, welcomes every newborn into our community with love, support, and commitment by investing in their future from birth. Santa Cruz Community Ventures automatically opens Children’s Savings Accounts for all Santa Cruz County newborns. These accounts improve the social-emotional wellbeing of both newborns and mothers, build dedicated educational funds for our local babies’ futures and lay a foundational path of hope and possibility for all Santa Cruz County newborns. Learn more: www.semillitas.org
For Parents:
If you recently delivered your baby and went home without enrolling your baby in health insurance
please see the flyers below for additional Medi-Cal enrollment support:
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Learn more about the First Tooth First Birthday Campaign in Santa Cruz County
"As a new mom you are going to come across new challenges and things that are overwhelming. However, thanks to the Baby Gateway Newborn Enrollment Program, obtaining health coverage for your newborn will not be one of these things.
Our program makes obtaining Medi-Cal and finding a PCP a smooth process. Newborn Enrollment Coordinators are at hospitals to assist with completing appropriate paperwork and connecting you with all the key resources you need to be successful."
- Alicia F. Health Outreach and Enrollment Manager
First 5 Santa Cruz County
