Ascension Sacred Heart Pensacola has been named in Newsweek’s list of America’s Best Maternity Care Hospitals at the highest five ribbon level. Although 400 hospitals in the U.S. were recognized in this year’s rankings, Sacred Heart is the only hospital from Pensacola to make the 2024 list.
The Best Maternity Care distinction recognizes facilities that have provided exceptional care to mothers, newborns, and their families based on three data sources. These include nationwide online surveys of hospital managers and maternity healthcare professionals, medical key performance indicators relevant to maternity care and patient satisfaction data.
“This recognition highlights just how vital it is to build rapport with our patients and treat each one with individual attention and care,” said Sacred Heart Pensacola President & CEO Will Condon. “We are grateful that our approach to maternal care has been recognized.”
Sacred Heart Pensacola currently utilizes multiple approaches to improve healthcare insecurity for mothers and infants. The Women’s Care Center team is addressing key obstacles to care such as transportation, insurance, financial resources and child care.
Maternal health navigators who identify maternal patients finding difficulty in these barrier areas have a number of tools available to alleviate them including: coordinating with rideshare services to help patients get to their appointments, providing pack-n-plays for safe sleeping habits and offering iron-rich food and education bags.
The Studer Family Children’s Hospital at Ascension Sacred Heart has the region’s only Level III NICU – delivering advanced care for preterm and critically sick babies and holds the Baby-Friendly designation in recognition of its commitment to the highest level of breastfeeding support and education.
Sacred Heart’s facilities in Pensacola and Miramar Beach have also recently taken part in the state’s first postpartum wristband initiative. The new program involves giving a silver rubber wristband to mothers to voluntarily wear for up to a year postpartum. This has helped prioritize them as patients and spotlight their medical history when they seek care through EMS, ERs or other medical sites.
In addition to this award, Sacred Heart has been named a top-15 health system in the U.S. and a top-50 cardiovascular hospital by PINC AI and Fortune.
To learn more about Ascension Sacred Heart and find the closest care site near you, visit the website. The full list of recipients is available here.
About Ascension Sacred Heart
Ascension Sacred Heart, based in Pensacola, Florida, operates five hospitals and more than 100 other sites of care and employs more than 6,440 associates. In fiscal year 2023, Ascension Sacred Heart provided more than $142 million in community benefit and care for persons living in poverty. Ascension is one of the nation’s leading non-profit and Catholic health systems, with a Mission of delivering compassionate, personalized care to all with special attention to persons living in poverty and those most vulnerable. In FY2023, Ascension provided $2.2 billion in care of persons living in poverty and other community benefit programs. Ascension includes approximately 134,000 associates, 35,000 affiliated providers and 140 hospitals, serving communities in 19 states and the District of Columbia. Visit www.ascension.org.
