BJC Health System took over management of the ConnectCare health care plan for uninsured St. Louisans. ConnectCare now serves about 80,000 area residents, about 40 percent of whom have no insurance. 4411 N. Newstead Ave. Cases of lead poisoning in children increased approximately 16 percent from 1993 to 1996. Every zip code in the city has an extremely high percentage of children who are lead poisoned when compared to the norm cited by the U.S. Center for Disease Control.
Statistics concerning infant and maternity care are mixed.
The number of teen births has decreased, as has the number of women receiving late or no prenatal care. The number of low birth weight babies has also decreased and the rate of infant mortality has improved slightly. Despite the decreases, however, the rates for all of these factors far exceed the norms. The statistics concerning sexually transmitted diseases also show mixed results. An effort is needed to improve the immunization rate for children.