Good Samaritan’s Women and Infants Center is working to become designated as a Level II Perinatal Hospital. Due to Indiana’s high infant mortality rate of 7.1 per 1,000 births, which is above the national rate of 6.3, the Indiana State Department of Health has put a focus on standardizing perinatal levels of care. This standardization includes four levels of care, with level I being basic care to pregnant women and infants, up to level IV being capable of caring for the most complex and critically ill pregnant women and infants.

Good Samaritan’s Women and Infants Center’s level II means that care can be provided to high-risk pregnant women, both admitted and transferred to Good Samaritan from a lower level of care facility. It also means that Good Samaritan can deliver and provide specialized care to infants who weigh more than 1,500 grams and are born at 32 weeks gestation and above.

For the community, this will allow family to receive the appropriate care, keeping families together for a better support system. “Most of the surrounding hospitals are a level I, and as a Level II Perinatal Hospital we are able to keep more babies in our facility,” stated Margaret Suozzi, Director of Women and Infants at Good Samaritan. “The infants that are more sick and need critical care, will be sent to a Level III or IV hospital, but once they are stable, they can come back home to Good Samaritan. Studies show that when a baby is able to stay close to home around family and support, their outcomes are much better.”

During a recent survey and gap analysis by the State Department of Health, Good Samaritan was complimented for going above and beyond the maternal and neonatal standards that would qualify the unit as a level II. The designation of these new standardized levels will not take effect until sometime in 2017.

“The results of the recent survey and the news that we are on track to be designated as a perinatal level II represents the highest quality of care and expertise shown by our Women and Infants Center employees,” added Rob McLin, President and CEO of Good Samaritan. “Our physicians and nurses are constantly working toward better health practices, and their ability to work alongside the patient and their family is a huge benefit to the communities we serve.”

Good Samaritan is one of 27 hospitals in the state of Indiana that would be designated as a level II.