HARRISBURG — Five Geisinger hospitals recently received the Pennsylvania Perinatal Quality Collaborative’s (PA PQC) Designations Awards for improving the quality of maternal and newborn care.

This designation signifies that the hospitals established multidisciplinary teams dedicated to sharing best practices and data in the hospital and community in areas impacting maternal mortality, including maternal sepsis.

Geisinger Bloomsburg Hospital; Geisinger Community Medical Center, Scranton; Geisinger Lewistown Hospital; Geisinger Medical Center, Danville, and Geisinger Wyoming Valley were all awarded silver designation for undertaking projects focused on health equity and/or patient voice.

“Geisinger has been actively involved with PA PQC since its inception in 2019. Our teams have consistently been recognized for their excellent work on projects aligning with the focus of PA PQC,” said Sandra Culbertson, M.D., Geisinger chair of the Women and Children’s Institute. “This work aligns well with the mission of Geisinger and reflects the dedication of our providers and nurses.”

The awards were presented during a ceremony at the Blair County Convention Center in Altoona as part of the PA PQC’s annual conference. Designation is based on meeting quality improvement milestone criteria over a 12-month period.

In Pennsylvania, perinatal health issues persist, including racial and ethnic disparities in maternal and neonatal outcomes, higher than average maternal sepsis rates and drug overdose deaths during pregnancy and postpartum. The PA PQC addresses these challenges through various initiatives, including Maternal Opioid Use Disorder, Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome, Maternal Sepsis and Safe Sleep.

About the

Pennsylvania

Perinatal Quality Collaborative

The Pennsylvania Perinatal Quality Collaborative (PA PQC) provides quality improvement support to healthcare teams to improve the standard of care for pregnant and postpartum people and babies. Seventy-seven birth sites and NICUs from across the commonwealth participate in the PA PQC. The PA PQC is administered by the Jewish Healthcare Foundation and WHAMglobal, and it is affiliated with the Northeast PQC (NEPaPQC). For more information, visit papqc.org.