For decades, organizations like the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and the March of Dimes have been promoting the importance of full-term pregnancies—those naturally reaching at least 39 weeks gestation—yet early elective deliveries still account for 10-15 percent of all deliveries.
Research has shown that a baby’s brain nearly doubles in weight in the last few weeks of pregnancy, and important lung, liver and kidney development also occurs at this time. Morbidity rates double for each gestational week earlier than 38 completed weeks, and the risk of death is nearly double for infants born at 37 weeks of pregnancy, when compared to babies born at 40 weeks,
One year after 17 Oregon hospitals put a “hard stop” on elective, non-medically necessary inductions and c-sections prior to 39 weeks gestation, some hospitals are showing trends of significant reduction in early elective deliveries (EEDs).
By September 1, 2011, 17 of the Oregon’s 53 birthing hospitals joined the March of Dimes/Oregon Health Leadership Council (OHLC) “hard stop” challenge. Those 17 hospitals accounted for nearly 50% of all Oregon births.
The Oregon Association of Hospitals and Health Systems (OAHHS) is a partner in this work, helping hospitals to eliminate patient harm through the CMS Partnership for Patients (PfP) campaign. With our combined efforts 35 of Oregon’s 53 birthing hospitals have adopted a “hard stop” policy on early elective deliveries. The results are astounding.
St. Charles has installed a Yacker Tracker similar to this one at Akron General Medical Center in Ohio. (Photo credit: The Plain Dealer)
Nationwide, patients complain twice as often about noise in hospitals as they do about any other part of their stay. In fact, researchers at Harvard Medical School found that as the overall noise of a hospital increases, sleep is more likely to be disrupted. When their sleep was disrupted, their heart rates increased.
To help draw attention to this issue, St. Charles Health System has launched its “quiet campaign” to address noise in its facilities. The health system has spent the past several months working to make equipment quieter, to find ways to remind staff to lower their voices and to encourage visitors to allow patients time to rest in a quiet space.
“Family and visitors are good for the healing process, but we still need to have our quiet at night,” said Nancy Simonson, manager of the ortho/neuro unit at St. Charles Bend, who has led the campaign for the health system. “Quiet is also good for healing. As the noise level goes up, patients become anxious, which can lead to elevated heart rates and blood pressure. The physiological aspects of healing are impacted negatively by noise.”
In addition, patients may notice new Yacker Tracker devices in the hospitals that resemble stoplights. These devices monitor decibel levels and the light changes from green to yellow to red as the level increases.
“When it gets to a certain decibel it will say, ‘Quiet please,’” Simonson said. “Just the other day a little girl who was 2 or 3 was crying in the waiting area near our reception desk. The Yacker Tracker went off and she started laughing and stopped fussing.”
While the staff has made many changes, St. Charles is also asking patients and visitors for their help in improving the quiet, healing atmosphere at the hospitals in Bend, Redmond and Prineville. Simonson said that patients are encouraged to tell caregivers if their conversations are too loud. In return, caregivers will be asking parents to supervise children who are visiting at all times and may limit visitors so patients can rest.
According to the American College of Nurse-Midwives, more and more women are turning to midwives for women’s health and maternity care. In fact, midwife-attended births reached an all-time high of 8.4% in 2010.
Dr. 
Alvin Nakamura, an OB-GYN at Adventist Medical Center, works frequently with midwives. In a recent Oregonian article, he offered a few tips to expectant parents on how to choose a nurse-midwife:
Experience: Just as you should ask a LASIK surgeon how many times he’s done the procedure, ask a nurse-midwife how many deliveries she’s done and what her statistics are. It’s OK to shop around for a nurse-midwife (and for any health care provider, for that matter).
Control: Most women who seek out midwives want to participate in decision-making. If you’d rather not do that, a nurse-midwife may not be right for you.
“When it affects your quality of life, when you’re not doing the things you love to do, it’s time to do something,” says Rex Sedlacek of Corvallis.
Mary Anne McMurren, Administrator of Cottage Grove Community Hospital, announced today that the Oregon Rural Healthcare Quality Network, a network comprised of Oregon’s Critical Access Hospitals, recognized Cottage Grove Hospital as a “Best Practices Top Performer” in a multi-state Quality Health Indicators (QHi) performance benchmarking program.
Cottage Grove Community Hospital was recognized as a top performer for exemplary performance in the following categories: minimizing hospital acquired infections; pneumonia immunizations; and discharge instructions for patients admitted with a diagnosis of heart failure.
Harney District Hospital is sponsoring a program called The Holiday Melt down, inspired by the television series The Biggest Loser. Developed by Harney District Hospital’s Sonni Svejcar and Toni Siegner, the program seeks to improve the health of our community through percentage weight loss.
“Running the Melt Down through the major holidays and for 16 weeks makes it a truly difficult challenge,” notes Siegner. “We’re really trying to get participants to develop good habits by making simple lifestyle changes for overall health,” agrees Svejcar.
The rules of The Melt Down are simple. Teams of 6 or more combined their individual weights into a beginning team weight after paying $10 each and weighing in at Harney District Hospital. After several weeks, participants weigh out of the program by January 4th, again combining weights for an ending team weight. Over 185 people came to the hospital for their initial weigh in, for a total pot of $1,880. The pot will be divided among the winning teams; 50% to 1st, 30% to 2nd and 20% to 3rd.
Fun facts about The Holiday Melt Down
The Journal of American Medical Association reports 69% of Americans are currently overweight or obese. Health issues associated with being overweight contribute to several of the leading causes of death in our country including heart disease, type 2 Diabetes, certain cancers and stroke.
Winners of the Holiday Melt Down will be announced locally in the Burns Times-Herald and KBNH/KORC on Wednesday, January 9.
Sacred Heart Medical Center at Riverbend tops the list of hospitals with the lowest 30-day readmission rates for heart failure, according to data published in the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Hospital Compare website, and noted in Becker’s Clinical Quality and Infection Control publication.
The study period was July 2008 to June 2011, and Sacred Heart at RiverBend’s 19% readmission rate was the lowest of all hospitals surveyed. Readmission is one measure of quality of care. As part of the Affordable Care Act’s emphasis on quality improvement, effective Oct. 1 hospitals can face financial penalties when patients are readmitted to the hospital for the same condition within 30 days of discharge.
Other Oregon hospitals appeared on the list, including Providence St. Vincent Medical Center (No. 10) and Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center (No. 14).
Heart failure, also called congestive heart failure or CHF, occurs when the heart’s pumping action fails to work properly. The term “heart failure” simply means that the heart is not pumping blood as well as it should. It does not mean imminent loss of life or the heart has stopped. The heart either cannot fill with enough blood or cannot pump enough blood out.
Heart failure can affect either side or both sides of the heart. Most cases occur in the left side where the heart cannot pump enough oxygen-rich blood to nourish the body. It can come on suddenly, but usually it develops gradually. The chances of developing heart failure increase with age. It is a serious condition that affects about 550,000 people in the United States and causes about 300,000 deaths a year.
The Boy Scout motto “Be Prepared” came to life in the heroic rescue of a Boy Scout mom at Crater Lake by Boy Scout troop leaders, Crater Lake National Park staff, a vacationing physician, the Chemult Ambulance Service, Mercy Flights helicopter crew, and physicians and nurses at Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center. Gloria Ferguson had a life-threatening heart attack and cardiac arrest in July, but was saved thanks to the quick, skilled work of these many rescuers. These individuals received the Heart Hero award from the American Heart Association at a special ceremony at Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center on Saturday.
“It was the chain of care that saved her life,” says Kent Dauterman, a cardiologist at Southern Oregon Cardiology in Medford. “They rapidly identified the problem, knew what to do based on their training, and were brave enough to act. Everything happened as it should which made all the difference.”
Tuality Healthcare’s mammography vehicle, which travels to businesses and organizations throughout the Portland metro area, provides exams that take 15 minutes. It’s the only one of its kind in Oregon. Click the video to see more:
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