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Logansport Memorial Hospital’s Family Birth Center honored for its Hepatitis B vaccine birth dose rate

Last Updated on October 12, 2019 by cassnetwork

Logansport Memorial Hospital’s Family Birth Center has been recognized by the Immunization Action Coalition (IAC) and the Indiana State Department of Health for achievingone of the highest reported rates in the state for its work to protect newborns from hepatitis B virus infection.

“We consider it our privilege to deliver nearly500 babies each year, and we believe it is our responsibility to the patients and families weserve to provide them with the highest standards of evidence-based care,” comments Tara McVay, Chief Nursing Officer for Logansport Memorial Hospital. “Delivering the hepatitis B vaccine at birth is one of those standards we uphold, and we will continue pursuing excellence in carefor our moms and babies who choose and trust us for their maternity care experience.”

Logansport Memorial Hospital is the newest entry into IAC’s Birth Dose Honor Roll (www.immunize.org/honor-roll/birthdose), which recognizes hospitals and birthing centers that have attained high coverage levels for administering the hepatitis B vaccine at birth. Logansport Memorial Hospital immunized 475 infants in 2018and took additional steps to prevent perinatal transmission of hepatitis B.

The national standard of care to prevent hepatitis B virus infection in babies is to administer hepatitis B vaccine to all newborns before they leave the hospital or birthing center. This standard is being adopted by centers of healthcare excellence nationwide as a safety net to protect newborns from a wide range of medical errors that lead to babies being unprotected from perinatal hepatitis B infection.

“Hospitals and birthing centers have a responsibility to protect babies from life-threatening hepatitis B infection,” said Deborah Wexler, MD, executive director and founder of IAC. “Logansport Memorial Hospital’s commitment to the best practice of hepatitis B vaccination at birth has shown them to be a leader in preventing the transmission of the hepatitis B virus.”

Logansport Memorial Hospital’s Family Birth Center serves Logansport, Cass County, and the surrounding counties in north central Indiana by offering high-quality, cost-effective maternal and neonatal services in a supportive and family-centered environment. The Family Birth Center has five labor, delivery, and recovery rooms, a Cesarean section suite, a Level II Nursery for specialized neonatal care, and ten private, postpartum suites. For more information about maternity services at Logansport Memorial Hospital, visit LogansportMemorial.org/Family-Birth-Center.

SOURCE: News release from Logansport Memorial Hospital

Cass County Online