Perinatal Care Recognized by Joint Commission

Area family has welcomed generations of new members at Adena

If there’s anybody who recognizes the benefit of a hospital that provides high-quality perinatal care, it’s Melody Rose.

The 65-year-old Jackson resident is part a multi-generational tradition in her family of bringing new life into the world with the help of Adena physicians.

“I was born at Adena Chillicothe when the hospital was downtown,” she said. “I gave birth to my two children, Johnny and Christina, 35 and 33 years ago at Adena. Then, Johnny and, more recently, Christina, had their babies at Adena Regional Medical Center (ARMC), so that’s three generations who have used Adena’s hospital because of the good care we have received.”

Melody’s daughter, Christina Hively, gave birth to her second son May 21 at ARMC. In her case, having her child at Adena is a special nod to the care provided since Christina, herself, works for the Health System as a nurse practitioner in Ear, Nose and Throat.

“When you’re able to see the quality of care that people give behind the scenes, as Christina has, it’s so important,” Melody said. “When we all choose the same hospital to take care of our children and give birth, that says a lot about the quality of care we receive.”

The Joint Commission agrees, having this year renewed ARMC’s Gold Seal of Approval for Perinatal Care. The certification designates ARMC’s Women and Children’s program as a Center for Excellence in Perinatal Care, the result of the department’s continual compliance with The Joint Commission’s performance standards and commitment to providing safe and quality care for newborns and their mothers.

The certification recognizes ARMC’s efforts to achieve integrated, coordinated, patient-centered care for clinically uncomplicated pregnancies and births. It uses standards, guidelines and The Joint Commission’s perinatal care core performance measures for managing and monitoring aspects of perinatal care that are critical to improving and maintaining the health of newborns and their mothers.

Certification is the result of a rigorous review process by The Joint Commission of compliance within a set of standards that include quality and safety metrics, protocols and procedures, and use of evidence-based practice guidelines. According to The Joint Commission, organizations that monitor and adhere to perinatal care core measures are more likely to demonstrate several outcome improvements, including:

• Reduction in infant mortality rates
• Reduction in maternal complications and mortality
• Reduction of unnecessary induction of labor
• Reduction of elective deliveries that can lead to an increase in admission rates to the neonatal intensive care unit
• Reduction of complications during deliveries
• Reduction of prematurity rates that can lead to infant mortality
• Reduction in costs associated with lengthy hospital stays due to complications

“Perinatal Care certification recognizes health care organizations committed to fostering continuous quality improvement in patient safety and quality of care,” says Mark Pelletier, RN, MS, Chief Operating Officer, Accreditation and Certification Operations, and Chief Nursing Executive for The Joint Commission. “We commend Adena Regional Medical Center for using certification to reduce variation in its clinical processes and to strengthen its program structure and management framework for newborns and their mothers.”

For patients, what all of that translates to is the confidence that when the time comes to welcome a new member of the family, ARMC’s Women and Children’s Department is providing them with the highest quality care using the best practices available.

It’s that level of confidence that has kept Melody’s family returning – in classic style – to ARMC to give birth. When Johnny learned he was going to become a father, he called his father and said he wanted to bring the baby home in the same 1964 Dodge Polaris that both he and Christina were brought home in after their births.

The car had just been sitting in a field, but was pulled out and the family set about getting it restored – work that was completed shortly before the birth.

That Dodge Polaris also was used by Christina’s parents as part of a family convoy of sorts that formed to bring the mom and her new son home from ARMC May 21^st. Also in that convoy was the vehicle Christina has brought both her sons home in – her husband’s restored 1968 Chevy truck that had been his grandfather’s – as well as other classic vehicles driven by Johnny and a host of other family members.

Christina echoed her mother’s feelings on the care she personally has received at ARMC.

“I have received high-quality, supportive and exceptional care throughout the entire process of labor and delivery as well as post-partum with both of my sons,” she said.

That begs the question that with three generations of Adena births behind it, will there one day be a fourth generation of Melody’s family being picked up at ARMC? If so, they should expect to receive the same gold-standard commitment to quality care that the ARMC Women and Children’s Department has become known and recognized for providing.