Second Annual Pennsylvania Perinatal Quality Improvement Designation Awards Recognize 62 Hospitals
HARRISBURG, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Pennsylvania Perinatal Quality Collaborative (PA PQC) is pleased to announce the recipients of its second annual Perinatal Quality Improvement Designation Awards which were presented at its annual conference in Altoona on May 21, 2025.
"Through participation in the Perinatal Quality Collaborative, hospital staff have demonstrated the ability to work with community services to make a difference."
Share
Designation awards and levels are based on meeting quality improvement milestone criteria over a 12-month period, starting from April 2024 through March 2025. The awards were announced and presented to staff from each hospital during a ceremony at the Blair County Convention Center. Those earning the silver or gold designation level have undertaken additional projects focused on health equity and/or patient voice within maternal and neonatal health care.
Hospitals recognized at the ceremony include:
ACMH Hospital
AHN – Forbes Hospital
AHN – Jefferson Hospital
AHN – St. Vincent
AHN – West Penn Hospital
Doylestown Hospital
Jefferson Einstein Philadelphia Hospital
Geisinger – Bloomsburg Hospital
Geisinger – Community Medical Center
Geisinger – Lewistown Hospital
Geisinger – Medical Center, Danville
Geisinger – Wyoming Valley Medical Center
Grand View Hospital Maternity Department
Guthrie – Robert Packer Hospital Birthing Center
Holy Redeemer Hospital
Indiana Regional Medical Center
Jefferson Einstein Medical Center Montgomery
Jefferson Health – Thomas Jefferson University Hospital
Lehigh Valley Health Network – Cedar Crest
Lehigh Valley Health Network – Hazelton
Lehigh Valley Health Network – Muhlenberg
Lehigh Valley Health Network – Pocono
Lehigh Valley Health Network – Schuylkill
Main Line Health – Bryn Mawr Hospital
Main Line Health – Lankenau Medical Center
Main Line Health – Paoli Hospital
Main Line Health – Riddle Hospital
Mount Nittany Medical Center
Penn Highlands DuBois
Penn Medicine – Chester County Hospital
Penn Medicine – Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
Penn Medicine – Lancaster General/Women and Babies
Penn Medicine – Pennsylvania Hospital
Penn State Health – Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and Children's Hospital
Penn State Health –St. Joseph's
Punxsutawney Area Hospital
St. Clair Hospital
St. Luke's University Health Network – Allentown
St. Luke's University Health Network – Anderson
St. Luke's University Health Network – Upper BucksTower Health – Phoenixville Hospital
Tower Health System – Reading Hospital
Trinity Health - St. Marys Medical Center
UPMC Altoona
UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh
UPMC Hamot
UPMC Hanover UPMC Harrisburg
UPMC Horizon
UPMC Magee Womens Hospital
UPMC Memorial in York
UPMC Northwest
UPMC Wellsboro (Susquehanna Soldiers and Sailors)
UPMC Williamsport (Susquehanna Williamsport)
Warren General Hospital
Wayne General Hospital
WellSpan – Evangelical Community Hospital
WellSpan – Ephrata Community Hospital
WellSpan – Gettysburg Hospital
WellSpan – Good Samaritan Hospital
WellSpan – Summit Health Chambersburg Hospital
WellSpan – York Hospital
'Pennsylvanians understand the need to address the ongoing challenges affecting mothers and their newborn babies, especially those causing maternal and infant deaths. Through participation in the Perinatal Quality Collaborative, hospital staff have demonstrated the ability to work with community services to make a difference. With a refocus of priorities at the national level, birthing hospitals across Pennsylvania have responded by increasing their work locally to improve the care of mothers and babies in their communities,' said James Cook, MD, Neonatal Health Co-Chair of the PA PQC Advisory Group and Medical Director of the Northeastern PA PQC.
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.
'We are proud to recognize the hospitals across Pennsylvania that are leading the way in improving maternal and newborn outcomes in childbirth,' said Karen Wolk Feinstein, PhD, President and CEO of the Jewish Healthcare Foundation. 'Their commitment to quality improvement and patient-centered care is helping to address some of the most pressing challenges in maternal health. These designations reflect meaningful progress toward safer care for all families in the Commonwealth.'
The PA PQC is administered by the Jewish Healthcare Foundation and WHAMglobal, and it is affiliated with the Northeastern Pennsylvania PQC (NEPaPQC).
About the Pennsylvania Perinatal Quality Collaborative
The Pennsylvania Perinatal Quality Collaborative (PA PQC) provides quality improvement support to healthcare teams to improve the standard of care for pregnant and postpartum people and babies. Seventy-seven birth sites and NICUs from across the commonwealth participate in the PA PQC. The PA PQC is administered by the Jewish Healthcare Foundation and WHAMglobal, and it is affiliated with the Northeastern Pennsylvania PQC (NEPaPQC). For more information, visit papqc.org.
About the Jewish Healthcare Foundation
The Jewish Healthcare Foundation (JHF) and its three operating arms — the Pittsburgh Regional Health Initiative (PRHI), Health Careers Futures (HCF), and the Women's Health Activist Movement Global (WHAMglobal) — offer a unique brand of activist philanthropy to advance healthcare innovation, advocacy, collaboration, and education in the interest of better health. For more information, visit jhf.org.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBS News
5 days ago
- CBS News
Penn Medicine to stop providing gender-affirming surgeries for patients 18 and under, official says
Penn Medicine will no longer provide gender-affirming surgery to patients under 19 years old Penn Medicine will no longer provide gender-affirming surgery to patients under 19 years old Penn Medicine will no longer provide gender-affirming surgery to patients under 19 years old Penn Medicine will stop providing gender-affirming surgeries for patients under 19 years old, the Philadelphia-based system said Thursday. Penn Medicine will no longer perform gender-affirming surgical procedures in plastic surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, and urology, as well as head and neck surgeries, PJ Brennan, Penn Medicine's chief medical officer, said in a statement. The change comes "as a result of current guidance established by the federal government," the statement says. The news comes after President Trump signed an executive order restricting gender-affirming care for people under 19. The order, which threatens federal grants awarded to institutions that provide gender-affirming care to people 18 and under, has been challenged in court. Major medical groups, including the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics, support access to care, and surgery for minors is extremely rare. "We remain deeply committed to ensuring a respectful and welcoming environment for all members of the communities we serve and providing comprehensive medical and behavioral health care and psychosocial support for LGBTQ+ individuals while complying with federal government requirements," Brennan said in the statement. The University of Pennsylvania previously came under fire from the Trump administration, which claims the school violated laws guaranteeing women equal opportunities in athletics by letting a transgender swimmer compete on the school's women's team and into team facilities in 2022. Penn has said that it always followed NCAA and Ivy League policies regarding student participation on athletic teams. The Trump administration said in March it would cut $175 million in grants for the university over the issue.
CBS News
5 days ago
- CBS News
This Philadelphia doctor's story of saving his own life is being made into a movie: "I almost died five times"
Penn Medicine doctor's story of saving his life is being made into a movie Penn Medicine doctor's story of saving his life is being made into a movie Penn Medicine doctor's story of saving his life is being made into a movie Saving lives, first his own, then others. It's the story of a doctor researcher at Penn Medicine that's now being made into a movie. A man on a mission, with science always running through his mind. Dr. David Fajgenbaum works out the equations on his windows at Penn Medicine. Focusing on immune cells is how he saved his life, with a new approach that's now saving others. It's a story that's headed to Hollywood. CBS News Philadelphia. "This is a story about living from someone who was dying, and it's a story about creating hope when it feels like there is no hope," he said. Fajgenbaum was filled with a more innocent kind of hope at Georgetown, where he was a quarterback. Then, at Penn Medicine, in his third year, he developed a rare disease called Castleman for which there was no treatment. "In the first three years after my diagnosis, I almost died five times," he said. "I knew that if I didn't find a treatment, that I wasn't gonna survive. And so that was just my only hope." Castleman puts the immune system in overdrive. Fajgenbaum figured an established transplant drug, which suppresses the immune system, might work, and it did. "Turning hope into action," he said. That's the theme of his book, "Chasing My Cure," A cure that came from an existing drug. CBS News Philadelphia. "It's so amazing to think that this drug was at my local CVS for all those years when I was in and out of the ICU, and no one knew to try it," said Fajgenbaum. "So I just keep thinking, how many more drugs that could treat more patients that are suffering from diseases?" Fajgenbaum and his team at Penn find new uses for existing medications, drug repurposing. "We've just uncovered time and time again that the solutions are out there. We just don't have anyone looking for these old solutions. Our medical system focuses on new drugs for profitable diseases. We want to focus on existing drugs for neglected diseases," Fajgenbaum said. He started a nonprofit called Every Cure, where they repurpose drugs with the help of artificial intelligence. Every Cure. "And over the last 11 years, we've identified and advanced 13 more repurposed treatments for diseases they weren't intended for," Fajgenbaum said. One is a vitamin derivative that can help some autistic children. "That's one of my favorite programs. We're advancing another one is with the numbing medicine, lidocaine," he said. That one is showing promise with breast cancer. His story and research has made headlines and now a movie is in the works. "The script is being written. I hear it's almost done, which is exciting. And then the next step is to identify the right lead actor," said Fajgenbaum. "My wife has ideas for people in mind. She would love Bradley Cooper to play me." Playing the real-life story of a lifesaver. As if he doesn't already have enough accolades, Fajgenbaum was also just recognized as one of Time's 100Health leaders.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Yahoo
Community raises concerns on possible Geisinger Cancer Treatment Center
EAST BUFFALO TOWNSHIP, UNION COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — A Geisinger Cancer Treatment Center is coming to Union County, but not everyone is happy about it. The land, which was once going to be a Giant distribution center, is now planned to become a treatment center. Borough officials say the current plan includes one building bringing in around 300 cars per day. Residents say they're worried about how the new project could bring a lot of traffic to Route 15. 'Because of where it is located and because of how fast the speed is on that hill, it's going to be nothing but a death trap,' East Buffalo Township resident Tina Prowant said. Wilkes-Barre now better prepared for floods 'I think the main concern is traffic safety because it's on Route 15. Giant had proposed building a supermarket on this site back in the 2000s. This is very different, it's not going to be anywhere near the traffic volume that the supermarket would create,' East Buffalo Township Chair of Board Supervisors James Knight explained. The borough believes land development has already been approved, and the project is considered an appropriate use for the site. The final step now is for Geisinger to apply for zoning and building permits. Once those are in place, construction can begin. The land is currently being cleared and graded. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
