As part of a six-month grant from the Washington State Department of Health, WSHA was selected as a key collaborative partner with our 20 critical access hospitals which provide obstetric delivery as part of their care services. During this grant, participants provided data from completed gap analysis tools to support targeted improvements, along with a roadmap for successful implementation. Additionally, a small subset of participants chose to move forward with the Recognition phase of planning and simulation training opportunities were provided for five of our hospitals with WSHA SME(s) as facilitators.
The US ranks 65th among all industrialized nations in terms of maternal death. Racial, ethnic, and geographic disparities intensify the nation’s maternal health crisis, with Black and Indigenous women dying from pregnancy-related causes at a rate two-to-three times higher than their White, Asian Pacific Islander and Hispanic counterparts. Pregnant women who live in rural communities are at higher risk for severe maternal morbidity and about 60% more likely to die before, during or after delivery than those living in urban settings. During obstetric emergencies, having a highly effective medical team optimizes the use of information, people and resources to achieve higher quality, safer patient care (per CMQCC Improving Health Care Response to Obstetric Hemorrhage, v3.0, 2022).
This requires each obstetrical unit to have a plan and the tools to assist the team to execute it. With the current staffing challenges, it is essential that each obstetrical department has a well-designed plan specific to its hospital with tools to guide ever-changing team members. In response to this maternal health crisis, the Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health (AIM), in partnership with the Institute for Health care Improvement, created an OB Readiness change package to assist clinicians, staff, hospitals and organizations with timely recognition, response and treatment of hemorrhage in maternal patients.
WSHA would like to give a warm congratulations to the following hospitals for participating in this hugely successful and important work for our maternal patients within Washington:
- Olympic Medical Center
- Forks Community Hospital
- Mason General Hospital
- Kittitas Valley Healthcare
- Providence Mount Carmel Hospital
- Newport Hospital and Health Services
- Jefferson Healthcare
Sincerely,
Amy Anderson
Director, Safety and Quality
