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Hospital earns second Blue Distinction

03/08/2016
Family Beginnings Birthing Center nurses work during a recent cesarean birth of twins at Uniontown Hospital.

Just a few months after Uniontown Hospital was designated as a Blue Distinction Center + for excellence in knee and hip replacement surgeries; the community hospital has earned a similar designation – this time in maternity care.

The hospital announced this week that the Family Beginnings Birthing Center was named a Blue Distinction Center for providing quality, affordable care for vaginal and cesarean births, routine obstetrical services and follow-up care.

Blue Distinction Specialty Care designations are part of a national Blue Cross Blue Shield designation program that recognizes healthcare facilities that demonstrate expertise in delivering quality specialty care safely and effectively while maintaining cost in an efficient manner.

The goal of the program is to help consumers find both quality and value for their specialty care needs, while encouraging healthcare professionals to improve the overall quality and delivery of healthcare nationwide, and providing a credible foundation for local Blue Plans to design benefits tailored to meet employers’ own quality and cost objectives. Only those facilities that first meet nationally established, objective quality measures for Blue Distinction Centers are considered for designation as a Blue Distinction Center or a Blue Distinction Center +.

“We are where the future of Fayette County begins and this designation reaffirms what we already know about our women’s services,” CEO Steve Handy said. “Our Family Beginnings Birthing Center team works hard every day to provide the best care for our patients and it is that commitment that makes such designations a reality.”

Chief Nursing Officer and Executive Director, Betty Ann Rock, who oversees the department, said that the honor is especially gratifying for those who work day in and day out to make sure Uniontown Hospital is doing everything it can for the health of those in need of maternity care.

 “The nurses, physicians and clinicians are the reason for our success and are to be commended for their dedication and their passion,” Rock said. “We are leading the way forward as a community hospital committed to providing for the health care needs of the community and this honor represents that commitment.”

Both Blue Distinction designations come on the heels of the hospital’s announcement that the facility was recognized as a 2014 Top Performer on Key Quality Measures® by The Joint Commission, the leading accreditor of health care organizations in the United States.

Uniontown Hospital was recognized as part of The Joint Commission’s 2015 annual report “America’s Hospitals: Improving Quality and Safety,” for attaining and sustaining excellence in accountability measure performance in six different categories.

Uniontown Hospital is one of only 1,043 hospitals of the more than 3,300 eligible hospitals in the United States to achieve the 2014 Top Performer distinction.

“We are doing things the right way here,” FBBC Clinical Director Lea Walls said. “Hospital-wide, in FBBC, in all departments – everyone is dedicated to making a healthy difference in the lives they touch.” 

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