COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – Ohio Gov. John Kasich has announced a plan to reduce the state's infant-mortality rate, calling Ohio's statistics unacceptable.

Kasich's program is meant to address data showing that more than 1,000 infants died in 2012 in Ohio before reaching the age of 1.

The Columbus Dispatch reports (http://bit.ly/1vVFDoE) that Kasich announced his initiative Thursday at the 2014 Ohio Infant Mortality Summit.

Kasich said the Ohio Medicaid program will provide immediate high-risk care management and services to pregnant women and babies in nine communities with high infant-mortality rates.

Kasich says the state will also spend $900,000 to fund two rural and two urban “pregnancy projects'' to provide services to expectant mothers and a place to meet to support one another.