FOR RELEASE:
July 27, 2010
Study Rates Catawba Valley Medical Center’s Maternity Care 5 Stars
Top Rating Based on Maternal Complication Rates and Neonatal Mortality Rates
HICKORY, NC – Maternity care at Catawba Valley Medical Center received
a 5-star rating from HealthGrades, the nation’s leading independent
healthcare ratings organization, based on its low complication rates for
vaginal and C-section deliveries and its low rates of neonatal mortality.
The HealthGrades study of maternity care, released in June, examined all
1,546 hospitals that provide maternity care in the 19 states that collect
and publish outcomes data. Five-star hospitals represent the top 15% of
all hospitals within the 19 states studied.
CVMC is the only hospital in the Hickory region to receive this designation.
“This recognition from HealthGrades is a result of Catawba Valley
Medical Center’s continuing commitment to improved maternity outcomes
for our community,” said J. Anthony Rose, President & CEO, Catawba
Valley Medical Center. “We commend our dedicated Magnet nurses,
physicians and providers for their direct role in helping us achieve HealthGrades’
highest rating for maternity care.”
The study rated each hospital with 1, 3 or 5 stars for its maternity care
based on maternal complication rates and neonatal mortality rates. As
a group, 5-star-rated hospitals had 51% fewer maternal complications for
vaginal deliveries and 74% fewer maternal complications for C-sections
when compared with hospital rated with 1 star.
The HealthGrades study found that if all of the 1,546 hospitals performed
at the level of five star-rated hospitals, 176,654 women might have avoided
developing one or more in-hospital major obstetric complications during
the three-year period studied, 2006 to 2008.
Several factors contribute to Catawba Valley Medical Center’s efforts
to achieve excellence in maternity care. For example, the CVMC Birthing
Center is committed to ensuring that routine C-sections are not scheduled
before 39 weeks completed gestation to assure that intentionally-delivered
babies are ready for birth and breathing on their own. It employs specialized
neonatal nurse practitioners who attend deliveries in which the baby needs
special care or stabilization at birth. Skilled physicians and certified
nurse midwives provide care and perform deliveries at all hours, and highly
trained charge nurses are available for additional support in high-risk
situations.
“Hospitals rated with 5 stars for their maternity care are –
by the numbers – bringing outstanding care to mothers-to-be and
their babies,” said Rick May, MD, a vice president with HealthGrades
and co-author of the study. “Members of the community should feel
quite proud to have in their midst a hospital that performs at a high
level over time in such an important area of care.”
Hospitals were evaluated in the HealthGrades study using the following criteria:
• Maternal complication rate among women undergoing single live-born
vaginal or C-section deliveries;
• Maternal complication rate among women undergoing “patient-choice”
or non-clinically indicated C-sections;
• Newborn volume adjusted for low birth weight; and
• Newborn mortality rate stratified into eight birth weight categories.
The HealthGrades Maternity Care study and its methodology can be found at
http://www.healthgrades.com.
Catawba Valley Medical Center is a not-for-profit, public healthcare system
providing and promoting the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual
well-being of the public in addition to serving as a center for health
education, wellness services, preventative medicine and acute care. Located
in Hickory, N.C., CVMC has received three Magnet designations from the
American Nurses Credentialing Center and has been recognized for providing
“An Outstanding Inpatient Experience” for a third consecutive
year by J.D. Power and Associates. For more information, please visit
http://www.catawbavalleymedical.org.