January 19, 2017 – Alameda Health System-Highland Hospital Makes State C-Section Honor Roll for Two Consecutive Years

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Lorna Fernandes
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Alameda Health System-Highland Hospital Makes State C-Section Honor Roll for Two Consecutive Years

Award recognizes reduction in Cesarean births for first-time mothers with low-risk pregnancies

Oakland, Calif.— Jan. 19, 2017 — Alameda Health System, the Bay Area’s leading public health system, announced today that Smart Care California recognized Highland Hospital on the C-section Honor Roll as a facility that has successfully reduced the number of Cesarean births.

Smart Care California is a public-private partnership working to promote safe, affordable health care for all Californians. They created this recognition to honor hospitals, clinicians and care teams who are leading the way toward safer births and healthier babies and mothers, after recognizing an unhealthy trend in increased unnecessary C-Sections, the Department of Health and Human Services set a Healthy People 2020 target for reducing the number of C-section births nationwide to 23.9 percent for low-risk, first-birth deliveries and Smart Care California followed suit.

The goal is to encourage more hospitals and clinicians to provide only medically necessary lowrisk, first-birth C-sections and celebrates those hospitals who have achieved or surpassed the target.

“We are proud to be recognized for our efforts to reduce C-section births and provide safe and comprehensive care to both the mother and baby for the second year in a row,” said Dr. Sophie Shabel, interim chair, Department of Maternal Child Health, Highland Hospital.

Some of the physical effects that can happen with an unnecessary C-section include maternal death, cardiac arrest, urgent hysterectomy, increased length of hospital stay and chronic pelvic pain.

About Alameda Health System
Alameda Health System, headquartered in Oakland, Calif., is a leading public health care provider and medical training institution recognized for its world-class patient and family-centered system of care. Our mission, Caring, Healing, Teaching, Serving All, reflects our commitment to promoting wellness, eliminating disparities and optimizing the health of all communities in Alameda County. We currently provide more than 4,500 jobs and are home to more than 1,100 physicians across nine facilities, including five hospitals and a network of community-based wellness centers. For more information, visit AlamedaHealthSystem.org.

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