The historical excerpts presented here describe a highly successful venture into maternal-child health care (MCH) delivery that only narrowly avoided ending in disaster. It is hoped this brief saga may be useful to others planning to embark on a health-care project, especially to those intending to use a team composed of different types of health-care providers.
The CHIP (County Health Improvement Programs) Project is an outgrowth of the combined efforts of the University of Mississippi Medical Center, the State Board of Health, the community physicians, and their hospitals. The primary goal of this project is to provide a single standard of MCH of improved quality to all persons in a geographically defined population, through a family-centered approach, by a health team that strives to utilize each member of the team optimally.
The project was conceived over a period of many months by a biracial committee of Mississippi health professionals representing