(l-r): The Women’s Health Service team lead by Susan Gross, MD, Chairperson (front row, center) and Wendy Wilcox, MD, Vice Chairperson (second row, 3rd from left).

Brooklyn, NY - The North Bronx Healthcare Network’s Women’s Health Service recently received the prestigious National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems (NAPH) Safety Net Patient Safety Award for its Reducing Adverse Outcomes on Labor and Delivery initiative. The NAPH’s Safety Net Awards Ceremony recognizes those organizations which have been recognized for best practices by implementing the best safety initiatives using evidence-based guidelines. The initiative was designed to reduce occurrences of certain adverse perinatal events, such as the incidence of Erb’s palsy, that can be devastating to newborns and their families.

The NBHN Women’s Health Service joined forces with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, an organization which partners with healthcare providers around the world to establish and support ways to provide safe and effective care. It then developed a process to analyze key labor and delivery data, and identified certain risk factors strongly associated with these adverse outcomes. It then implemented a number of interventions which included a customized protocol for use of Oxytocin during labor, study cycles to test changes and monitor compliance with the protocol, and TeamSTEPPS training for staff.

TeamSTEPPS is a toolkit of evidence-based methods designed by the Department of Defense and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Its goal is to provide better, safer healthcare through improved communication and teamwork skills among healthcare professionals.

“The Women’s Health Service team has remained committed to doing everything possible to maximize a safe delivery,” Susan Gross, MD, FRCS(C), FACOG, FACMG, Chairperson, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, NBHN. “Our initiative has reduced deliveries complicated by shoulder dystocia, decreased severe Erb’s Palsy cases, and reduced adverse patient occurrences overall, while maintaining cesarean section rates well below the national average. We are proud that the NAPH has recognized our efforts to create a safe environment for our patients.”

In addition, the NBHN’s Women’s Health Service was also recently awarded the Health Association of New York State (HANYS) 2011 Pinnacle Award for Quality and Patient Safety in the Multi-Entity or System, another distinguished achievement recognizing NCBH’s Labor and Delivery units as one of the safest labor floors in the country. Its team of dedicated physicians and midwifery and nursing staff have enabled NCBH to maintain one of the lowest cesarean section rates in New York.

About the North Bronx Healthcare Network

The North Bronx Healthcare Network is comprised of Jacobi Medical Center and North Central Bronx Hospital, member facilities of the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation. A major teaching hospital affiliated with the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Jacobi offers numerous centers of excellence including its renowned Trauma Center, Multi-person Hyperbaric Unit, Burn Center, Surgical Intensive Care Unit and Women’s Health Center. North Central Bronx Hospital (NCBH), a 215 bed community hospital, specializes in women's and children's services. Over the years NCBH has reconfigured the range of services it offers to match the changing healthcare landscape and needs of the communities it serves.

About The National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems

NAPH represents the nation’s largest metropolitan hospitals and health systems that fulfill a safety net mission of providing high volumes of care to low income individuals. These facilities provide high quality health services for all patients, including the uninsured and underinsured, regardless of ability to pay. In addition to functioning as the country’s default national health insurance system, public hospitals provide many essential community wide services, such as primary care, trauma care, and neonatal intensive care. Public hospitals also train many of America’s doctors, nurses, and other health care providers. Since its inception in 1980, NAPH has cultivated a strong presence on Capitol Hill, with the executive branch, and in many state capitols. NAPH advocates on behalf of its members on such issues as Medicaid, Medicare, and access to health care services for vulnerable populations. For more information, visit our website at http://www.naph.org.

About HHC

The New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC) is a $6.7 billion integrated health care delivery system with its own 385,000 member health plan, MetroPlus, and is the largest municipal health care organization in the country. HHC serves 1.3 million New Yorkers every year and more than 450,000 are uninsured. HHC provides medical, mental health and substance abuse services through its 11 acute care hospitals, four skilled nursing facilities, six large diagnostic and treatment centers and more than 80 community based clinics. HHC Health and Home Care also provides in-home services for New Yorkers. HHC was the 2008 recipient of the National Quality Forum and The Joint Commissions John M. Eisenberg Award for Innovation in Patient Safety and Quality. For more information, visit www.nyc.gov/hhc.