Project & Program Updates
PA PQC Awards 42 Hospitals Maternal Health Recognitions at First Annual Designation Ceremony
The Pennsylvania Perinatal Quality Collaborative (PA PQC) is pleased to announce the recipients of its inaugural Designations Awards which were presented at its annual conference in Harrisburg on May 22, 2024.
Designation awards and levels are based on meeting quality improvement milestone criteria over a 12-month period, starting from April 2023 through March 2024. The awards were announced and presented to staff from each hospital during a ceremony at the Best Western Central Hotel and Conference Center. Those earning the silver or gold designation level have undertaken additional projects focused on health equity and/or patient voice within maternal health care.
Designation signifies the hospital has established multidisciplinary teams that have demonstrated improvements in maternal and newborn care by sharing best practices and data in their hospital and community. A gold designation signifies a hospital's proven commitment to health equity (HE) and patient voice (PV) in their quality improvement work. A silver signifies the hospital's dedicated commitment to incorporating HE or PV into their quality improvement work. A bronze designation signifies the hospital met the required quality improvement submission criteria for at least 2 of the 4 quarters.
Hospitals had the opportunity to earn a Designation for each 2023-24 PA PQC initiative that they actively participated in, including:Immediate Postpartum Long-Acting Reversible Contraception (IPLARC), substance use disorders (SUD), and substance exposed newborn (SEN).
Hospitals recognized at the ceremony include:
Allegheny Health Network Forbes Hospital (SUD – Bronze)
Allegheny Health Network Jefferson Hospital (SUD – Bronze)
Allegheny Health Network Saint Vincent Hospital (SUD – Gold, SEN – Gold)
Allegheny Health Network West Penn Hospital (SUD/PV – Silver, SUD/HE – Silver)
Allegheny Health Network Wexford Hospital (SUD – Bronze)
Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center (SEN – Bronze)
Doylestown Hospital (SUD – Bronze, SEN – Bronze)
Einstein Medical Center Montgomery (SEN/PV – Silver)
Evangelical Community Hospital (SUD/HE – Silver, SEN – Bronze)
Geisinger Bloomsburg Hospital (SEN – Gold, SUD/HE – Silver, SUD – Bronze)
Geisinger Community Medical Center (SUD/HE – Silver, IPLARC – Bronze)
Geisinger Lewistown Hospital (SEN/PV – Silver, SUD/HE – Silver, IPLARC – Bronze)
Geisinger Medical Center (SUD/HE – Silver, IPLARC – Bronze)
Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center (SUD – Gold, IPLARC – Bronze)
Guthrie-Robert Packer Hospital (SUD – Gold, SEN – Gold)
Holy Redeemer Hospital (SUD – Bronze, SEN – Bronze)
Jefferson Health Thomas Jefferson University Hospital (SEN – Bronze)
Lehigh Valley Hospital - Cedar Crest (SEN – Bronze, SUD – Bronze, IPLARC – Bronze)
Lehigh Valley Hospital – Hazleton (SEN – Bronze, SUD – Bronze, IPLARC – Bronze)
Lehigh Valley Hospital – Muhlenberg (SEN – Bronze, SUD – Bronze)
Lehigh Valley Hospital – Pocono (SEN – Bronze, SUD – Bronze, IPLARC – Bronze)
Lehigh Valley Hospital – Schuylkill (SEN – Bronze, SUD – Bronze)
Penn Highlands DuBois (SEN/PV – Silver)
Penn Medicine Chester County Hospital (SEN – Bronze, SUD – Bronze)
Penn Medicine Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (SUD – Gold, SEN – Gold)
Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health Women and Babies Hospital (SUD – Gold, SEN – Bronze)
Penn Medicine Pennsylvania Hospital (SUD – Gold, SEN/HE – Silver)
Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center (SUD – Gold, SEN – Gold)
Penn State Health Hampden Medical Center (SEN – Bronze)
Tower Health Reading Hospital Center (SUD/PV – Silver, SEN – Bronze)
UPMC Altoona (SEN – Bronze, SUD – Bronze)
UPMC Hamot (SUD/HE – Silver, SEN – Bronze)
UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital (SUD – Gold, SEN – Bronze)
UPMC Northwest (SUD – Bronze)
UPMC Harrisburg (SEN – Gold)
UPMC Williamsport (IPLARC/PV – Silver)
Wayne Memorial Hospital (SUD/HE – Silver, IPLARC – Bronze, SEN – Bronze)
WellSpan Ephrata Community Hospital (SUD – Gold, SEN – Bronze)
WellSpan Gettysburg Hospital (SUD – Gold, SEN – Bronze)
WellSpan Good Samaritan Hospital (SUD – Gold, SEN – Bronze)
WellSpan Chambersburg Hospital (SUD – Gold, SEN – Bronze)
WellSpan York Hospital (SUD – Gold, SEN – Bronze
In Pennsylvania, perinatal health issues persist, including racial and ethnic disparities in maternal and neonatal outcomes, higher than average maternal sepsis rates, and drug overdose deaths during pregnancy and postpartum. The PA PQC addresses these challenges through various initiatives, including Maternal Opioid Use Disorder, Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome, Maternal Sepsis, and Safe Sleep. Through collaborative efforts, the PA PQC aims to improve maternal and neonatal health outcomes across the state.
At its annual meeting, with 140 attendees present, the PA PQC also focused on its annual progress and featured presentations by experts Melissa Bauer, DO, Eileen Tyrala, MD, and Devon George, MSN, RN, on maternal sepsis and safe sleep. The PA PQC advisory group identified safe sleep as a top concern in 2023. Sepsis has recently become a new initiative in response to Pennsylvania's severe maternal morbidity data, PA MMRC data, and surveys of participating hospitals.
A health equity panel, featuring Darlis Sunderland, CNM, Rose Fisher, CNM, and Sharee Livingston, DO, discussed opportunities to improve care for vulnerable populations, underscoring the PA PQC's ongoing commitment to this issue. The meeting also included initiative breakouts, poster sessions, a networking lunch, and regional breakouts. Additionally, it marked the inaugural annual designation award ceremony.
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