SHB_p030

SC08062015

30 The Courier sun • health • AUGUST 6, 2015 for breaking news visit www.couriersun.com Local hospitals on the ‘March’ for healthy babies by the QUEENS COURIER STAF editorial@queenscourier.com @QueensCourier The March of Dimes hosted a special ▶health event recently at York College in Jamaica to celebrate the launch of its Queens Healthy Babies are Worth the Wait community program. Elmhurst Hospital Center and Jamaica Hospital Medical Center were chosen as the official hospital sites to implement the program, which aims to prevent preterm birth. The March of Dimes Healthy Babies are Worth the Wait program provides the framework for communities to work together to prevent preterm birth by applying the “five Ps”: partnerships, provider initiatives, patient support, public engagement and progress measurement. Demonstration projects conducted by March of Dimes showed that the application of Healthy Babies are Worth the Wait community program could successfully integrate public and clinical health, improve systems of care and reduce preterm birth. The March of Dimes has implemented Healthy Babies are Worth the Wait programs at 30 sites across five states: Kentucky, Texas, Kansas, New Jersey and New York. “In my experience, most women who become pregnant expect the best possible outcome even when there exist significant risk factors in their personal medical history, past obstetrical and social history that may lead to a poor outcome,” said Dr. Sandra McCalla, chair of the March of Dimes New York Division Program Services Committee and vice chair of obstetrics and gynecology at Maimonides Medical Center. “Though the prematurity rate in New York State is about 10 percent and significantly greater in some New York City neighborhoods and among disadvantaged women, there is a gap in knowledge among patients and a disparate offering of available interventions known to modify the risk of recurrent or initial preterm births. The Healthy Babies are Worth the Wait program aims to combine clinical, community and innovative patient education efforts to promote awareness especially among patients; facilitate implementation of existing interventions; and thereby reducing the number of preventable premature births.” Elmhurst Hospital Center and Jamaica Hospital Medical Center signed participation agreements and have begun working with their implementation teams to select interventions. The Elmhurst team will focus on women at increased risk of preterm labor/preterm birth and ensure access to 17P (a form of progesterone to help prevent preterm birth), cervical length assessments in the second trimester, and periodontal disease treatment in a setting devoted to patients with a history of premature births. These patients will receive enhanced care including pharmacological treatments, preventative therapies and stress reduction therapy. At Jamaica, the medical center plans to enhance their pre-existing group prenatal care/CenteringPregnancy programs by enhancing preconception and interconception care and using an innovative approach to educating patients by partnering with a digital technology designer group. Interactive digital programs will be created with specific content about preterm labor prevention and available interventions meant to empower clients. All patients will be given digital tablets loaded with pertinent medical information, taking into account cultural competence, health literacy and linguistic competence of its constituents. “Jamaica Hospital is very excited to be a partner in the March of Dimes Healthy Babies are Worth the Wait Program,” said Mitchell Cornett, administrator of Jamaica Hospital’s Department of OB/GYN. ”We are equally excited that we have successfully initiated group prenatal care. Mothers participating in the program are dedicated to ensuring the best possible outcomes for their babies. By including the multifaceted concept of CenteringPregnancy as a growing part of our prenatal care services, Jamaica Hospital is fulfilling its goal of increasing the rate of full-term deliveries in the communities we serve.” “Partnering with the March of Dimes for the Healthy Babies are Worth the Wait initiative allows Elmhurst to continue advancing maternal and infant health to make sure pregnant women and their babies get the health care they need right from the start,” said Chris Constantino, senior vice president of the Queens Health Network and executive director of Elmhurst Hospital Center. “The staff at Elmhurst Hospital Center is committed to reducing preterm births in Queens by educating pregnant women in our community about the importance of prenatal care, and helping them access the services they need.”


SC08062015
To see the actual publication please follow the link above