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Study Finds Saint Barnabas Medical Center Among Top Hospitals for Maternity Care
LIVINGSTON, NJ (June 24, 2008) – Saint Barnabas Medical Center announced today that it has been recognized with a five-star rating for clinical excellence in maternity care, based on a study issued by HealthGrades, the nation’s leading independent healthcare ratings company. The HealthGrades Fifth Annual Report on Women’s Health Outcomes in U.S. Hospitals found that best-performing hospitals had almost 51 percent fewer maternal complications among women who had vaginal births compared to poor-performing hospitals, and 76 percent fewer for women undergoing cesarean section births.
The HealthGrades study also identified Saint Barnabas Medical Center ranks in the top ten percent in the nation for maternity care services and is a recipient of 2008/2009 HealthGrades Maternity Care Excellence AwardTM. The hospital has ranked among the top ten percent in the nation for the last six consecutive years.
“We are once again very pleased to be the recipient of the Maternity Care Excellence Award. At Saint Barnabas Medical Center, we deliver more babies than any other hospital in New Jersey. It is our family-centered approach coupled with our extensive clinical expertise and our commitment to excellence that makes us a leader in the nation, states John F. Bonamo, M.D., M.S., Executive Director of Saint Barnabas Medical Center.
HealthGrades analyzed over 12.5 million hospital delivery and neonate records from 2004 through 2006 in over 1440 hospitals and found:
• If all hospitals had performed at the level of the best-performing hospitals, 188,673 women may have avoided developing one or more in-hospital major maternal obstetrics complications associated with vaginal or C-section delivery.
• The best-performing hospitals had almost 76 percent fewer maternal complications among women who had C-sections compared to poor-performing hospitals.
“Women account for 60 percent of all hospitalizations each year,” said Samantha Collier, HealthGrades’ Chief Medical Officer. “The majority of them enter the hospital to give birth. Our research demonstrates the critical need for these women to evaluate the quality of maternity care provided by the hospital before making this important decision.”
For its 2008/2009 ratings, HealthGrades independently analyzed the quality of maternity care at hospitals in the 17 states that publish outcomes data, objectively assessing their clinical performance and quality. HealthGrades applied the following rating system to all hospitals included in the analysis:
- Five-star (Best) = Top 15% of all hospitals within 17 states
- Three-star (Average) = Middle 70% of all hospitals within 17 states
- One-star (Poor) = Bottom 15% of all hospitals within 17 states
Saint Barnabas Medical Center was previously recognized with the 2008 Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence™ from HealthGrades for ranking among the top 5 percent of hospitals in the nation, as well as the 2008 HealthGrades Excellence Award™ in Cardiac Care, the 2007/2008 HealthGrades Excellence Award™ in Women’s Health Services; and the 2007/2008 HealthGrades Bariatric Surgery Specialty Excellence Award™.
The complete maternity care ratings are published, free of charge, on HealthGrades’ web site, www.HealthGrades.com. Ratings for 27 other medical procedures and diagnoses – including cardiac, pulmonary, vascular, stroke, orthopedics, critical care, bariatric, and gastrointestinal services – are also available on the HealthGrades’ web site.
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