CVMC Maternity Care Receives 5-Star Rating

FOR RELEASE:
July 27, 2010

Study Rates Catawba Valley Medical Center’s Maternity Care 5 Stars
Top Rating Based on Maternal Complication Rates and Neonatal Mortality Rates

HICKORY, NC – Maternity care at Catawba Valley Medical Center received a 5-star rating from HealthGrades, the nation’s leading independent healthcare ratings organization, based on its low complication rates for vaginal and C-section deliveries and its low rates of neonatal mortality. The HealthGrades study of maternity care, released in June, examined all 1,546 hospitals that provide maternity care in the 19 states that collect and publish outcomes data. Five-star hospitals represent the top 15% of all hospitals within the 19 states studied.

CVMC is the only hospital in the Hickory region to receive this designation.

“This recognition from HealthGrades is a result of Catawba Valley Medical Center’s continuing commitment to improved maternity outcomes for our community,” said J. Anthony Rose, President & CEO, Catawba Valley Medical Center. “We commend our dedicated Magnet nurses, physicians and providers for their direct role in helping us achieve HealthGrades’ highest rating for maternity care.”

The study rated each hospital with 1, 3 or 5 stars for its maternity care based on maternal complication rates and neonatal mortality rates. As a group, 5-star-rated hospitals had 51% fewer maternal complications for vaginal deliveries and 74% fewer maternal complications for C-sections when compared with hospital rated with 1 star.

The HealthGrades study found that if all of the 1,546 hospitals performed at the level of five star-rated hospitals, 176,654 women might have avoided developing one or more in-hospital major obstetric complications during the three-year period studied, 2006 to 2008.

Several factors contribute to Catawba Valley Medical Center’s efforts to achieve excellence in maternity care. For example, the CVMC Birthing Center is committed to ensuring that routine C-sections are not scheduled before 39 weeks completed gestation to assure that intentionally-delivered babies are ready for birth and breathing on their own. It employs specialized neonatal nurse practitioners who attend deliveries in which the baby needs special care or stabilization at birth. Skilled physicians and certified nurse midwives provide care and perform deliveries at all hours, and highly trained charge nurses are available for additional support in high-risk situations.

“Hospitals rated with 5 stars for their maternity care are – by the numbers – bringing outstanding care to mothers-to-be and their babies,” said Rick May, MD, a vice president with HealthGrades and co-author of the study. “Members of the community should feel quite proud to have in their midst a hospital that performs at a high level over time in such an important area of care.”

Hospitals were evaluated in the HealthGrades study using the following criteria:
• Maternal complication rate among women undergoing single live-born vaginal or C-section deliveries;
• Maternal complication rate among women undergoing “patient-choice” or non-clinically indicated C-sections;
• Newborn volume adjusted for low birth weight; and
• Newborn mortality rate stratified into eight birth weight categories.

The HealthGrades Maternity Care study and its methodology can be found at http://www.healthgrades.com.

Catawba Valley Medical Center is a not-for-profit, public healthcare system providing and promoting the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well-being of the public in addition to serving as a center for health education, wellness services, preventative medicine and acute care. Located in Hickory, N.C., CVMC has received three Magnet designations from the American Nurses Credentialing Center and has been recognized for providing “An Outstanding Inpatient Experience” for a third consecutive year by J.D. Power and Associates. For more information, please visit http://www.catawbavalleymedical.org.

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