Nicole Lorino, nurse manager at Ascension Wisconsin, has more than 20 years of experience at Ascension SE Wisconsin Hospital – St. Joseph Campus, specializing in women and infant services.
As leader of the Women’s Outpatient Center, Lorino oversees prenatal and postnatal care for thousands of women, resulting in about 700 births annually, according to Kathlyn Tambellini, director of inpatient women and infants at Ascension Wisconsin.
“She focuses on addressing social determinants of health in maternal care for underserved populations in Milwaukee,” said Tambellini.
In 2019, Ascension St. Joseph launched the Maternal Health Social Systems Initiative to identify and rectify broken social systems impacting maternal health outcomes.
“To tackle this issue, Nicole’s team began oversight of the community-focused care model in 2020 at the site level, prioritizing on listening to the needs of families,” Tambellini said.
The model included rideshare options for appointments, a prenatal outreach program, food assistance for mothers dealing with anemia, diabetes, high blood pressure and food insecurity, and access to child care during visits.