On August 11, Healthgrades announced the recipients of the 2020 Healthgrades Women’s Care Awards, which recognize hospitals that provide superior care for women during labor and delivery and for gynecologic procedures. This year 162 hospitals were recognized for excellence in one or more of these categories:
- The Healthgrades 2020 Obstetrics and Gynecology Excellence Award™ — Recognizes hospitals for exceptional clinical outcomes while caring for women in childbirth, as well as during and after gynecologic surgeries and procedures. Received by 68 hospitals.
- The Healthgrades 2020 Labor and Delivery Excellence Award™ — Recognizes the top 10% of all hospitals evaluated for the exceptional care provided to mothers during and after labor and delivery. Received by 114 hospitals.
- The Healthgrades 2020 Gynecologic Surgery Excellence Award™ — Recognizes the top 10% of hospitals evaluated that provided outstanding performance in gynecologic surgery, including hysterectomy and surgery related to the female reproductive system. Received by 74 hospitals.
Nothing takes away from the accomplishments of recipients, but this year is like no other before it. All hospitals have had to step up to ensure moms and babies are safe. In most cases that continues to mean pre-delivery COVID-19 testing, limited visitors (usually one support person, who stays through labor to recovery), and PPE for everyone in the room. Additional protocols apply to COVID-19 positive moms, including use of one negative pressure room for the entire stay. Providers must also ensure that, despite the pandemic, women visit their gynecologist at the first sign of concern and feel safe coming to the hospital, if necessary. As with other specialties, OBGYNs are seeing women who delay care and present with more severe conditions or advanced stages of cancer.
Women’s Care: Leading Voices from the Front Lines
In conjunction with release of the Healthgrades 2020 Women’s Care Awards, Healthgrades published “Women’s Care: Leading Voices from the Front Lines,” a series of stories based on interviews with doctors and nurses from some of the recipient hospitals. In each account, the passion that drives providers to make OBGYN their lifelong calling shines through, whether it’s evoked by bringing new life into the world or forging lifelong relationships with their patients at every stage in their care journey.
Through these stories run several recurring themes:
- Delivering moms prize personalized, 1:1 care.
”Most of our deliveries are repeat patients who often deliver in the same room with the same nurse as their first baby. It really helps our success rate because we see these parents year after year.” — Eileen Forgatch, Director of OB Services, Good Samaritan Medical Center – West Palm Beach, FL
- OBGYN is a calling. The passion never seems to flicker.
“You can never get over the feeling of seeing a newborn baby. Even if you’re having the worst day ever, you can just walk through OB and see families with their new babies and life is good.” — Ruth Schwarzkopf, Chief Nursing Officer, St. Mary’s Medical Center
- Today’s moms want to control outcomes.
“We have to temper what moms want to happen with what may happen so they’re relatively comfortable if things change course. We’re dealing with a variable — a baby — who has its own idea about how things should go for itself. And Mom and Dad will be dealing with that unique new being for the rest of its life.” — Dumisa Adams, MD, FACOG, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Garnet Health Doctors
- OBGYN physicians develop lifelong relationships with their patients.
“I’m driven by the satisfaction of achieving great outcomes, the joy of bringing new life into the world, and the opportunity to develop long-term relationships with my patients.” — Michael Straker, MD, FACOG, Chairman, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Clara Maass Medical Center
Especially now, the stories of these 2020 Healthgrades Women’s Care Awards recipients remind us that life is a miracle. This summer, the Family Birth Place at Englewood Health in New Jersey was reminded of that in spades when seven sets of twins were born in less than two months.
“The multiple births drew lots of attention,” says Valerie French, MBA, BSN, RNC-LRN, Director of Nursing, Maternal-Child Health at Englewood Health. “It was something so joyous during these troubling times.”
View the complete list of the award recipients
Women’s Care: Leading Voices from the Front Lines
