Appalachian Regional Healthcare proudly announces all five ARH birthing hospitals have received awards for data submission, indicating ARH’s commitment to quality improvement and data excellence. The award winners are Harlan ARH Hospital, Hazard ARH Regional Medical Center, Highlands ARH Regional Medical Center, Middlesboro ARH Hospital, and Whitesburg ARH Hospital.

Rita Crum, ARH’s Service Line Director for Women’s and Children’s Health, and Allison Webb, the OB Manager for Harlan ARH Hospital, attended the annual Kentucky Perinatal Quality Collaborative (KyPQC) meeting in Owensboro and accepted the awards for all five hospitals.

KyPQC is a statewide network of individuals dedicated to improving mothers’ and infants’ health and well-being from pregnancy through delivery and throughout the first year by working with hospitals across the state. KyPQC focuses on quality initiatives, including the impact of substance use disorder on mothers and their infants.  ARH birthing hospitals are part of KyPQC’s pilot group aimed at identifying mothers with substance use disorder and connecting them with community resources as well as improving the reporting rate of babies with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS), withdrawal from substances the baby was exposed to in the womb.

Crum says all five birthing hospitals committed to working with KyPQC. “We use an evidence-based tool to identify mothers at risk of substance use disorder and connect them to community resources. We also better identify and assess infants with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS). We submit data to the state, aiming to improve our service to mothers, infants, and families.”

Allison Webb, OB Unit Director at Harlan ARH Hospital, says, “Introducing new initiatives to identify women and moms-to-be with substance use disorders meant early interventions and assistance to treat and overcome the addictions that lead to better outcomes for both moms and babies.”

Webb confidently says, “Without the nurses of our Labor & Delivery Unit and Newborn Nursery bonding with the women, gathering information, and initiating the interventions, including involving our Peer Recovery Coaches, none of this would be possible. We have an amazing team! Our involvement doesn’t end at discharge, either. It continues with postpartum discharge follow-up calls and continuation of support from our Peer Recovery Coaches. Although being recognized for our efforts was excellent, we didn’t do it for awards. We did it for our moms, babies, and community, which I’m proud to be a part of.”