San Joaquin Community Hospital's Maternity Center Receives 5-Star Rating for Sixth Straight Year

San Joaquin Community Hospital (SJCH) announced today that the nation’s leading independent health care ratings company recognized them among the top 5% of hospitals for Maternity Care with a 5-star rating and the 2009/2010 Maternity Care Excellence Award™. HealthGrades® found that wide gaps persist in quality outcomes for maternity care and the best-performing hospitals had far fewer complications compared with poor-performing hospitals.

The Sixth Annual HealthGrades® Women’s Health in American Hospitals Study found that best-performing hospitals had 52% fewer maternal complications among women who had vaginal births compared to poor-performing hospitals and 76% fewer complications among women who had C-sections. Patient-choice C-sections had the largest difference at 84% between best and poor-performing hospitals.

“One of the most joyous moments in life is the birth of a newborn baby,” said SJCH President and CEO Robert J. Beehler. “At SJCH, we’re committed to a process that allows deliveries to be performed safely, smoothly and compassionately.”

Study findings include the following:

If all hospitals, among the 19 states studied, performed at the level of the best-performing hospitals from 2005 through 2007; 182,129 women may have avoided developing one or more in-hospital major obstetrics complications.

Best-performing hospitals had a 56% lower weight-stratified neonatal mortality compared to poor-performing hospitals.

C-section rates average approximately 32% among the 19 states studied.

Quality inconsistencies are seen when comparing states; those with the lowest complication rates have almost half the complications compared with states that had the highest complication rates.

“For many women, having a baby is their first experience with hospitalization, and as this study shows, it really matters which hospital is chosen.” said Dr. Rick May, a senior physician consultant with HealthGrades® and a study co-author. “But now women have a way of identifying hospitals with outstanding track records in terms of the outcomes of other new mothers. That’s a powerful tool for all women as they plan for their birth.”

HealthGrades® analyzed approximately 13 million hospital delivery and neonate records from 2005 through 2007 in more than 1,500 hospitals in 19 all-payer states for this study and identified 218 hospitals as being five-star rated in maternity care.

San Joaquin Community Hospital’s Maternity Care Center has achieved the HealthGrades® 5-star rating for the past six years. In addition to performing more than 3,600 deliveries per year, the center also offers NICU services, parenting and childbirth classes, and tours. For more information on our Maternity Care Center or any of SJCH’s services, visit us on the web at www.SJCH.us or call (661) 395-3000.