Within their most recent legislative report, the Washington State Maternal Mortality Review Panel found the leading underlying causes of pregnancy-related deaths are behavioral health conditions, including suicide and overdose (30 percent). To address this perinatal health care concern, the WSHA Safe Deliveries Roadmap (SDR) Program is partnering with the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) to launch a Perinatal Substance Use Disorder Initiative.
This initiative begins April 2022 with and will provide hospitals with resources needed for screening, treatment, and referral to services for birth parents and their newborns affected by a substance use disorder. Ongoing implementation support will be provided to each hospital by SDR and DOH Perinatal Coordinators.
At the conclusion of this initiative, participating hospitals will be eligible to become a Center of Excellence with certification from the WA DOH. Participation in this initiative also meets the requirements of Inpatient Quality-Reporting (IQR) NEW Maternal Morbidity Structural Measure.
Interested hospital members should complete this online form identifying the Perinatal team champions. Hospital leaders will be contacted and provided with additional initiative information. Any questions should be directed to WSHA Director of Safety and Quality, Safe Deliveries Roadmap program Mary Kay Ausenhus at marykaya@wsha.org.
