EMPower Hospital Spotlight: Madison Hospital
EMPower Hospital Spotlight: Madison Hospital
Madison, Alabama is one of the fastest growing cities in Alabama. With computer, manufacturing, and aerospace companies as some of the top employers in the city, Madison fosters a booming technology industry, yet still retains the hospitality and friendliness of a small southern city. Education is a top priority in Madison, evident through a renowned school system with high graduation rates; approximately 95% of the adults in the community have at least a high school diploma. Nearby, the city of Huntsville offers a chance to enlighten curiosities through the U.S. Space and Rocket Center, which also serves as the Official Visitor Center for NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. It’s no wonder that Madison was ranked by CNN/Money as one of the top 50 places to live! The city is truly going places that are out of this world.
Exterior of Madison Hospital
One of the city’s latest developments includes Madison Hospital, a care facility whose mission is to deliver high quality care and services that will improve the health of those they serve. Although the facility opened relatively recently in 2012, it has already established itself as a trusted medical care provider in the community. Madison Hospital is a member of the Huntsville Hospital Health System, and the facility reinvests its revenue to provide advanced medical services and equipment, with the capacity to accommodate 200 beds. The hospital serves a mix of insured patients (~70%), as well as patients that receive various types of public assistance (~30%). With the health of its patients as a priority, Madison Hospital applied to the EMPower initiative as a step towards achieving optimal care for mothers and infants in the community.
Lactation Consultants at Madison Hospital
Since joining the EMPower initiative, Madison Hospital has benefitted from both the financial incentives and from the individualized technical assistance provided by their EMPower Breastfeeding Coach, Julia Bourg, and their EMPower Quality Improvement (QI) Coach, Kori Flower. The hospital team shared, “We cannot say enough how pleased we have been with the coaching dyad. They have been in integral part of our implementation of the Ten Steps and our success thus far. It is like someone took a look through a window in our hospital and picked our coaches just for us. Julia, being from a small southern hospital, truly understands our workflow and the obstacles that we may face. Kori, being a physician, is able to speak to our physicians in a way they understand and respond positively to.” By taking full advantage of the support from the initiative, the Madison Hospital team has turned knowledge into practice, making significant strides in improving maternity care. According to the team at Madison Hospital, “The accomplishments we have been able to make since joining the EMPower initiative are countless, but among the biggest are our rooming-in rates, the improvement in physician and patient communication, and our ability to make change more quickly.” As they continue along the journey in implementing the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding towards Baby-Friendly designation, the facility hopes to see breastfeeding initiation and exclusivity rates, as well as duration, continue to improve in Madison and ultimately the state of Alabama. Their coach Julia remarked, “I have been so impressed with this team’s enthusiasm and positive approach to change. They have been an absolute joy to coach and an inspiration to many facilities.”
Lactivist Award displayed on a board at Madison Hospital
Throughout the initiative, Madison Hospital has exemplified a collaborative spirit by constantly sharing valuable resources and ideas with other EMPower hospitals. Madison Hospital developed a Lactivist Award to showcase the employees and physicians that go above and beyond to make the Ten Steps successful, and the team has shared this creative concept with other EMPower Hospitals in the initiative’s online Community Forum. In addition, during the Hospital Sharing Panel at the Atlanta Learning Collaborative Meeting, the hospital team presented their innovative approach for successfully implementing Step 7 – practicing rooming-in and allowing mothers and infants to remain together 24 hours a day. Madison Hospital conducted a LEAN project on Decentralization of Neonatal Care, which included assessing current practices and implementing procedural changes to improve flow. This project resulted in increased rooming-in rates and has received positive feedback from mothers. QI coach Kori Flower further highlighted the success of the LEAN project and noted, “The Madison Hospital team really took full advantage of the synergy between their quality improvement methods training in LEAN and the EMPower initiative. They’re an outstanding model for how to use QI methods to implement rooming-in.”
Needless to say, we have been incredibly inspired by Madison Hospital’s engagement and growth in the initiative thus far, and we are excited to see the team’s progress as they continue to demonstrate their commitment to healthy mothers and babies. Keep up the fantastic work, Madison Hospital!
Bentonville’s culture consists of the charming characteristics of a Southern city and small town, combined with influences from the Northwest Arkansas metropolitan area and a status as a global business hub. Bentonville is located in one of the fastest growing regions in the country, and in the past 20 years, it has transformed from a small town to a bustling center of commerce and entrepreneurialism. According to a recent US Census survey, Bentonville and surrounding communities in Benton County are second in growth for Arkansas and among the 100 fastest-growing counties in the United States. While the Northwest Arkansas economy was historically based upon agriculture and poultry, in recent decades, there has been rapid growth and diversification of its economy and culture due to the three Fortune 500 companies based in the area: Walmart, Tyson Foods, and J.B. Hunt. Both economic growth and wide cultural diversity can be attributed to over 1,250 Walmart suppliers that have established sales offices in the region. These satellite offices for companies of almost every industry mean that a large number of transplants from around the United States and the world can be found in Bentonville.
Within this evolving environment, Northwest Medical Center-Bentonville remains committed to providing exceptional care to the community. To achieve their goals to improve maternal-neonatal health and wellness, this comprehensive care facility applied and was accepted into the EMPower Breastfeeding initiative while in the D1 Discovery Phase of Baby-Friendly USA’s 4-D Pathway. The hospital has gained support in adopting the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding as they have progressed along the journey to Baby-Friendly designation. Since joining the EMPower initiative, Northwest Medical Center-Bentonville has benefitted from the individualized coaching and technical assistance offered, in areas such as adherence to the Ten Steps. One of their most noteworthy accomplishments involves Step 4, helping mothers initiate breastfeeding within one hour of birth. By honoring the golden hour in implementation of skin-to-skin, the number of infants that were once “slow to transition” and required “extended monitoring” and “oxygen support” has significantly decreased to the point that it is rare to see an infant fit into those categories! The facility’s EMPower Breastfeeding Coach, Julia Bourg, remarked, “This team worked hard to ensure that foundational steps were in place as they worked towards implementation of other practice changes.”
This facility is close to Baby-Friendly USA designation! They recently had their site visit assessment from the Baby-Friendly representatives and are awaiting the results. Allison Godwin, the facility’s Quality Improvement Coach, noted, “What we appreciated most about this team is their attention to creating sustainable change. They really wanted to make sure that their staff and their organizational culture supported these efforts.” We applaud your wonderful work, Bentonville!
