Latest / Becker’s Healthcare - Clinical Leadership Podcast / Heather Troutt, MSN, RN, CNL, RNC, Director of Women and Children’s Services at NorthBay Health

Transcript

Heather Troutt, MSN, RN, CNL, RNC, Director of Women and Children’s Services at NorthBay Health · Becker’s Healthcare - Clinical Leadership Podcast

• 0:00
  Welcome everyone to the Becker's Healthcare podcast series.
• 0:02
  I'm Ryan Mohammed, writer and moderator with Becker's
• 0:05
  Healthcare. And I'm thrilled to have with me
• 0:07
  today Heather Trout, director of women and children
• 0:10
  services at North Bay Health.
• 0:12
  Heather, welcome to the podcast. We're very excited
• 0:15
  to have you join us today.
• 0:16
  To get us started, I want to discuss
• 0:18
  how North Bay Medical Center has earned the
• 0:20
  high performing rating,
• 0:22
  in US News and World Reports, best hospital
• 0:25
  for, maternity maternity care for the 4th consecutive
• 0:28
  year, which is absolutely amazing.
• 0:31
  What does this recognition mean for your team
• 0:33
  and the families you serve?
• 0:35
  Thank you, Mariah. Yes. This was another huge
• 0:38
  honor.
• 0:39
  Like you mentioned, it was the 4th year
• 0:41
  of receiving this,
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  and it and it truly just validates
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  that the quality is the core of everything
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  that we do here at North Bay Health,
• 0:51
  not only just in maternity care services, but
• 0:54
  every department within our organization
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  and also validates,
• 0:58
  our patient centered care model. So, you know,
• 1:01
  putting the patient in the center
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  of everything we do. So it was,
• 1:06
  a great honor to receive that again.
• 1:09
  Yeah. Definitely. I can obviously see how quality,
• 1:14
  comes first with the patients,
• 1:16
  having won this for the 4th year in
• 1:18
  a row. Can you walk us through the
• 1:20
  key factors
• 1:22
  US News
• 1:23
  uses to evaluate the distinction,
• 1:26
  and how North Bay consistently meets these,
• 1:29
  these levels of criteria?
• 1:31
  Absolutely, Mariah. So US News,
• 1:34
  and World Report, they evaluate
• 1:36
  the hospitals in a variety of,
• 1:39
  different areas. And there's 8 8 specific items
• 1:42
  that they look at.
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  One being,
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  our c section rates,
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  newborn complication
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  rates because those kinda go hand in hand
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  with your if you have a really low
• 1:53
  c section rate,
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  you need to look at what are your
• 1:56
  newborn complication rates. So those go side by
• 1:59
  side. They also look at our breast milk
• 2:01
  feeding rates,
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  early elective
• 2:04
  delivery rates. So are we inducing patients,
• 2:07
  without medical reasons before 39 weeks?
• 2:12
  Routine vaginal births after c sections also referred
• 2:15
  to as VBACS or TOLACS.
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  So this refers to,
• 2:20
  if patients have had a a c section
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  before
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  and then would like to do a trial
• 2:26
  of labor to have a vaginal birth, what
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  is our rate on that? Do we even
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  offer that? Because a lot of hospitals,
• 2:32
  do not even offer that.
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  They also look at our episiotomy
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  rates,
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  in adherence to our birthing friendly criteria.
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  And, also, the, most important, I believe, is
• 2:45
  tracking and reporting of outcomes
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  across different racial and ethnic groups, making sure
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  that
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  equity
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  is,
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  is delivered in in all different races and
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  nationalities.
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  So those are the 8 different items that
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  they evaluate.
• 3:00
  You you asked about how how are we
• 3:03
  doing compared to other hospitals. Well, pretty fantastic.
• 3:07
  If,
• 3:08
  I I can say,
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  since this is our 4th, recognition,
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  our c section rates are 22%
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  lower
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  than, hospitals that do not meet this criteria.
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  Our newborn complication rate is 44%
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  lower than other hospitals.
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  Breastfeeding rate is 12%
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  higher
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  than comparable hospitals.
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  Our vaginal,
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  routine vaginal birth after c section,
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  like I mentioned, we have been offering this
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  service,
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  for a very long time, and many patients
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  are seeking out hospitals that do offer this.
• 3:44
  So this is a huge
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  drive for patients to come to our facility.
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  Episiotomy
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  rates are 33%
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  lower than, comparative
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  hospitals. We are baby friendly.
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  One of not everybody is baby friendly. We're
• 3:59
  the only ones in Solano County.
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  And then we're 13%
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  more likely to report our outcomes on
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  different racial and ethnic groups, looking at all
• 4:09
  those different categories
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  and dividing it up into the different racial
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  groups. So
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  yes.
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  Wow. Yeah. That is a lot of criteria
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  for good reason, of course.
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  And and like you said, I think that
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  makes it even more impressive with getting this
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  high rating for sure.
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  Going, into the family's decision for just a
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  sec, why do you think it's important for
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  families to look for a hospital with a,
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  US News high,
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  performing rating
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  when planning for childbirth?
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  Yeah. Thank you, Mara. You know, our families
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  are,
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  very,
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  proactive
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  and really redoing their research and homework. And
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  this distinction in maternity care for uncomplicated
• 4:52
  pregnancies
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  really helps,
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  our expectant families make those informed decisions
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  about where to seek care, and it reflects
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  on our commitment,
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  like we've mentioned to provide a safe,
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  compassionate, and quality experience throughout the birth process.
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  I often get phone calls
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  during to
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  arrange a tour or to ask questions
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  and really, you know, asking those informed decisions
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  about, you know, what are our rates and
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  all that kind of stuff. And it's it's
• 5:21
  available
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  on the Internet for everybody. So to be
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  able to,
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  speak so highly of those, it's it's really
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  important that our patients are able to make
• 5:31
  that informed decision.
• 5:33
  Yeah. Absolutely.
• 5:35
  For clarification,
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  what does the baby friendly designation signify,
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  and what does it say about the care
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  you provide to mothers and the babies?
• 5:44
  Absolutely. So North Bay Health, we were originally
• 5:48
  designated
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  in 2014,
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  by the
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  baby friendly USA
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  for our, baby friendly status.
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  They evaluate
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  81 different items when they come out for
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  an evaluation.
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  And
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  this this honor,
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  affirms that North Face Health adherence to the
• 6:09
  highest standards of care for breastfeeding moms and
• 6:12
  their babies, and it's based on the 10
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  steps to successful breastfeeding,
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  which is an evidence based practice recommended by
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  the World Health Organization
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  and the United Nations Children's Fund, UNICEF.
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  So it's many different criterias. It's not just
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  about
• 6:29
  breastfeeding,
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  but really just
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  giving our patients the the best care,
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  helping them with whatever feeding method they want,
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  but just meeting the rigorous criteria.
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  So redesignation
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  is every 5 years. So we were redesignated
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  in 2019,
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  and we just completed our redesignation,
• 6:50
  in September
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  of 2024.
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  So
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  very excited and very proud to continue this,
• 6:57
  quality practice.
• 6:59
  Oh, yeah. Absolutely. I'm sure. And, you know,
• 7:01
  81 points is outstanding.
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  As the only baby friendly hospital in, Solano
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  County, I hope I'm pronouncing that right.
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  What unique advantages does North Bay offer to
• 7:14
  breastfeeding mothers and their newborns?
• 7:17
  Yes. Thank you, Mariah. So,
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  you know, it means many things. Like I
• 7:21
  mentioned,
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  providing mothers and babies in our community with
• 7:24
  access to exceptional breastfeeding support while they're in
• 7:24
  the hospital. And when they go exceptional
• 7:27
  breastfeeding support while they're in the
• 7:29
  hospital and when they go home.
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  And like I mentioned earlier, it's not just
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  all about,
• 7:34
  breastfeeding.
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  Having your child at North Bay means that
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  you can stay with your healthy baby 24
• 7:40
  hours a day. We encourage skin to skin
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  contact immediately after birth. Whether you've had a
• 7:46
  vaginal delivery or a delivery a c section,
• 7:50
  we provide that same level of care with
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  that baby
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  immediately going skin to skin to help create
• 7:57
  that bonding. We also have 5 certified lactation
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  consultants
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  available to provide personalized 1 on 1 sessions.
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  We have outpatient support groups and consultations
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  available
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  once mothers and their babies leave. So carrying
• 8:12
  on that, you know, it's one thing to
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  get started in the hospital and really establish,
• 8:16
  but when you go home, that's a that's
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  a different story and having that available support.
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  And our lactation consultants
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  receive phone calls
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  daily
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  from patients
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  and other organizations
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  because there's there's like I said, they they
• 8:32
  don't have all the same support that North
• 8:34
  Bay does. So it's it's a very well,
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  deserved and needed,
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  service.
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  Yeah. It definitely,
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  definitely sounds like it, and I'm glad to
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  hear all the care that is shown to
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  the mother,
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  and, obviously, the child, of course.
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  Going back to quality, which, we touched on
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  a bit earlier, how does North Bay's commitment
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  to high standards and maternity care reflect in
• 8:58
  its broader mission of providing accessible,
• 9:02
  high quality,
• 9:03
  and compassionate care to patients throughout the North
• 9:06
  Bay region?
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  Yeah. You're absolutely right, Mariah. So North Bay
• 9:10
  Health's vision is to be the trusted health
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  care partner of choice for the communities we
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  serve.
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  So
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  showing and having these recognitions,
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  there like I said mentioned earlier, it's just
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  complete
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  validation
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  that,
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  we are addressing the critical
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  maternity care needs,
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  identifying,
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  you know, where where we need the quality,
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  which is in everything we do. I also
• 9:37
  wanted to mention that we are the only
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  level 3 NICU
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  in Solano County as well. So if you
• 9:43
  have a baby that, you know, maybe preterm
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  or just may need some help in the
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  NICU
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  and your facility that you're delivering at doesn't
• 9:52
  offer that, mom and baby could be separated.
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  And that's not anything that any,
• 9:59
  parents anticipate. So those are very, crucial things
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  to think about as well, when making a
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  decision.
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  Even though you don't don't anticipate that, we
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  want a healthy baby and a healthy mom,
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  sometimes we need that extra service. So that,
• 10:14
  again, provides so our patients don't have to
• 10:17
  travel to Sacramento or San Francisco.
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  They can be right here in Solano County
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  getting the highest level of care for themselves
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  and their baby.
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  In fact, our we have a woman's hope,
• 10:29
  philanthropy group
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  that just,
• 10:32
  donated
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  fetal
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  monitors
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  to our new clinics, our clinics that we're
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  opening up in Vacaville
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  so that we can really just keep those
• 10:43
  patients as close to home as possible.
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  So really living out that, mission and vision
• 10:50
  of North Bay Health.
• 10:52
  Yeah. Thank you so much for giving us
• 10:53
  that insight.
• 10:55
  Heather, before I let you go, last thing
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  I wanted to touch on with you.
• 10:59
  Across the industry, many hospitals are closing
• 11:02
  or cutting back on their maternity services, which
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  is obviously heartbreaking,
• 11:07
  for me, and I'm sure many other women
• 11:09
  to see.
• 11:11
  How is North Bay continuing to invest
• 11:14
  in maternity care and provide services and support
• 11:17
  to the babies and their families?
• 11:20
  Absolutely.
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  So all of these recognitions that we've received,
• 11:25
  over the past years
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  is because we are supported by the leadership
• 11:30
  here at North Bay Health.
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  They recognize
• 11:34
  that it is crucial that our services
• 11:37
  are here. We have,
• 11:39
  5 partnerships with 5 clinics,
• 11:43
  that are that do their that we support,
• 11:45
  and then they also have we do their
• 11:48
  deliveries here at North Bay. So really creating
• 11:51
  that,
• 11:53
  accessibility
• 11:54
  for our patients. Many of our patients
• 11:56
  come by bus,
• 11:58
  walk here.
• 11:59
  We are in a central location so that
• 12:01
  we can really serve,
• 12:03
  our patients. There is no question that we
• 12:07
  are only going to expand and get bigger.
• 12:10
  Never one thought or discussion about
• 12:13
  do we need these services because it's
• 12:15
  absolutely
• 12:17
  very clear to, senior leadership,
• 12:19
  to our CEO Mark Bail, that
• 12:23
  we need to do this. This is important,
• 12:25
  and we're here to stay as well as
• 12:26
  our NICU.
• 12:28
  I'm very proud of that.
• 12:30
  Yeah. Definitely. As you should be. Thank you
• 12:32
  so much for those final thoughts, Heather. This
• 12:34
  has definitely been
• 12:35
  a very, very informative discussion. So, again, I
• 12:37
  wanna thank you so much for coming on
• 12:39
  Backus Health Care,
• 12:40
  and I look forward to connecting with you
• 12:42
  again soon.
• 12:43
  That's awesome. Thank you so much. Have a
• 12:45
  great day. You too.