Partnering to improve birth outcomes in a rural community: Kearny County Hospital : Lakin, Kan
- Collection:
- Health Policy and Services Research
- Series Title(s):
- Maternal health case study (American Hospital Association)
- Contributor(s):
- American Hospital Association, issuing body.
- Publication:
- [Washington, D.C.] : American Hospital Association, February 2021
- Language(s):
- English
- Format:
- Text
- Subject(s):
- Maternal Health Services Hospitals, Rural Kansas United States
- Genre(s):
- Technical Report
- Abstract:
- Kearny County Hospital in Lakin, Kansas offers obstetrics services throughout 12 counties in southwest Kansas and eastern Colorado. Expecting mothers often have to travel up to two hours for care. Though Lakin is a town of just 2,400 residents, the critical access hospital’s Family Health Center has grown dramatically in the past two decades, from serving 2,000 patients to 22,000. Kearny’s obstetrics program has driven much of the growth and is viewed as a critical component of the hospital’s service lines. In 2015, Kearny launched the Pioneer Baby program in partnership with KU School of Medicine-Wichita to improve pregnancy and birth outcomes by reducing pregnancy complications, premature births, low- or extremely high-birth weight, and cesarean sections while increasing breastfeeding rates among rural, at-risk, reproductive-age women. Funding from the Children’s Miracle Network allowed Kearny to institute upgraded computer software for the OB unit, improved transportation options, and monthly visits from a maternal-fetal medicine specialist for high-risk pregnant women. Donations from local, large employers were used to purchase a 4D ultrasound machine. The Pioneer Baby program offers participants Becoming a Mom prenatal education curriculum, a virtual breastfeeding network, a breastfeeding walk-in clinic and a diabetes prevention program. The hospital also helps mothers purchase car seats using a portion of its funds from the 340B Drug Pricing program.
- Copyright:
- Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further use of the material is subject to CC BY-NC-ND license. (More information)
- Extent:
- 1 online resource (1 PDF file (2 pages))
- Illustrations:
- Illustrations
- NLM Unique ID:
- 9918418287606676 (See catalog record)
- Permanent Link:
- http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/9918418287606676