Leapfrog Group, Money name 10 NJ hospitals as best for maternity care

By: Jessica Perry
October 19, 2022 11:27 am

Using data from the 2,200 hospitals that took part in the 2022 Leapfrog Hospital Survey, Money and The Leapfrog Group revealed the best hospitals for maternity care in the U.S. earlier this month, with 10 from New Jersey making the grade.

Newark Beth Israel Medical Center – Newark
Virtua Voorhees Hospital – Voorhees
Inspira Medical Center Elmer – Elmer
Monmouth Medical Center – Long Branch
Inspira Medical Center Vineland – Vineland
Capital Health Medical Center – Hopewell – Pennington
Hackensack Meridian Ocean University Medical Center – Brick
Hackensack Meridian Palisades Medical Center – North Bergen
Hackensack Meridian Raritan Bay Medical Center – Perth Amboy
Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset – Somerville

Altogether, 259 hospitals were identified as the “best” for maternity care.

Participants were required to submit information for this year’s Leapfrog Hospital Survey by Aug. 31. Maternity care data collected was used to compile the list.

Making the grade

Take a look at New Jersey’s showing in the Spring 2022 Leapfrog Grades here.

To be eligible, the organizers said that hospitals must hold an A or B letter grade on the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade assessment from spring 2022, and meet additional criteria specific to providing maternity care. That includes achieving Leapfrog’s standards for: Early Elective Deliveries (a rate of 5% or less), Cesarean Birth (with a Healthy People 2030 NTSV cesarean birth rate target of 23.6% or less), Episiotomy (a rate of 5% or less), DVT Prophylaxis (must be 90% or more compliant with providing to women undergoing cesarean delivery), Bilirubin Screening (must be 90% or more compliant among all infants), and High-Risk Deliveries (applicable only to hospitals that electively admit them; facilities need to care for at least 50 more more very-low birth weight babies per year or have “better than expected” performance on VON’s measure of death or morbidity).

In a statement, RWJBarnabas Vice President of Women’s Services Suzanne Spernal reflected on the distinction of the system having three hospitals named to the list.

“As the health system that delivers the most babies in the state, we are deeply committed to ensuring we provide our communities with quality, equitable maternity care and these recognitions underscore that mission,” she said. “These distinctions are a testament to our facilities’ commitment to excellence in maternity care and are reflective of our dedicated and compassionate staff who ensure the highest level of care and safety for the patients we serve.”

You can view the entire Best Hospitals for Maternity Care list here.