Washington Regional Named a U.S. News & World Report Best Hospital for Maternity Care
U.S. News & World Report, the global authority in hospital rankings and consumer advice, has named Washington Regional Medical Center as a 2024 High Performing hospital for Maternity Care (Uncomplicated Pregnancy). Washington Regional is the only hospital in Arkansas to achieve the designation, which is the highest award a hospital can earn for U.S. News’ Best Hospitals for Maternity Care.
Best Hospitals for Maternity Care is an annual evaluation designed to assist expectant parents, in consultation with their prenatal care team, in making informed decisions about where to receive maternity care that best meets their family’s needs.
Washington Regional earned a High Performing designation in recognition of maternity care as measured by numerous factors, including newborn complication rates.
“We are proud to achieve this designation from U.S. News & World Report for a second consecutive year,” said Washington Regional President and CEO Larry Shackelford. “Our mission is to provide compassionate, high quality care to improve the health of the communities we serve. That is why Washington Regional’s Women and Infants Center provides families with a dedicated labor and delivery unit, a mother/baby unit, Northwest Arkansas’ largest neonatal intensive care unit, the area’s only Ronald McDonald House and two leading women’s health clinics – HerHealth Clinic and Parkhill – all under one roof. This latest recognition honors our commitment to providing excellent care for expectant parents and their babies.”
U.S. News evaluated hospitals from across the nation that provide labor and delivery services and submitted detailed data to the publication for analysis; 680 hospitals, an all-time high, participated in this year’s U.S. News survey. Fewer than half – 46% – of all hospitals that offer maternity care and participated in the survey received a High Performing designation.
“Hospitals that receive a High Performing designation as part of Best Hospitals for Maternity Care meet a high standard in caring for parents with uncomplicated pregnancies,” said Jennifer Winston, health data scientist at U.S. News. “These hospitals have C-section rates that are 26% lower, and newborn complication rates that are 37% lower than unrecognized hospitals. Parents-to-be can research their local hospitals’ performance metrics for free at
health.usnews.com to help them choose where to have their baby.”
The U.S. News Best Hospitals for Maternity Care methodology is based entirely on objective measures of quality, such as C-section rates in lower-risk pregnancies, newborn complication rates, exclusive breast milk feeding rates, early elective delivery rates and vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC) rates, among other measures.
For more information, visit Best Hospitals for Maternity Care and use #BestMaternityHospitals on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter).
Para español, visite https://www.wregional.com/main/mejores-hospitales-de-maternidad.