McLaren Bay Region has been awarded the 2020 Maternity Care Excellence Award by the Economic Alliance for Michigan (EAM). The EAM is a nonprofit group comprised of some of the state’s largest employers and unions, that awards hospitals throughout Michigan who demonstrate excellence and improvement in maternity care and delivery outcomes.
To be awarded the Excellence Award, hospitals need to fully meet the standard in all four of the following areas in the same calendar year: cesarean rates (≤ 29.3% of low-risk deliveries), episiotomy rates (≤ 5% of deliveries), elective early delivery rates (≤ 5% of deliveries), and maternity care processes (90% or greater). The data is collected from The Leapfrog Group, a Washington, D.C. based organization aiming to improve health care quality and safety for consumers and purchasers.
“When choosing a hospital to give birth at, parents-to-be should look at the facility’s C-section rate to help prevent an unneeded procedure from occurring,” said Bret Jackson, president, EAM. “Recipients of our Hospital Maternity Care Award are chosen based on their dedication to outcome transparency and patient safety. Their efforts help prevent adverse events and contribute to the lowering of healthcare costs.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2018, the State of Michigan recorded a 6.2 infant mortality rate, ranking 18th highest in the country. The national average was 5.9. Unnecessary C-sections and elective early deliveries may cause additional complications, even death, for both baby and mother.
“We are very proud to receive this prestigious award,” said Clarence Sevillian, Regional CEO, at McLaren , “We want our community to know that when they choose to have their baby at McLaren, they are going to be receiving the highest quality of care.”