St. Luke’s University Health Network (SLUHN) has always been recognized for the quality care they provide to patients across Pennsylvania and New Jersey. SLUHN has been the recipient of the Women’s Choice Award, designated a Blue Distinction Center+ for Maternity Care, and has been named as one of Watson Health’s Top 100 Hospitals. Consistent with their system wide initiatives to improve community health, the level IIIb NICU team at St. Luke’s in Bethlehem, PA identified opportunities to improve patient outcomes, drive team engagement, and improve overall staff culture.
In order to raise the quality and performance of their NICU, St. Luke’s partnered with Onsite Neonatal Partners and began implementing practices founded in evidence-based medicine. The Neonatology Director, Dr. Kimberly Costello, encouraged St. Luke’s to join the Vermont Oxford Network’s (VON) Micropreemie Collaborative and began QI projects designed to benefit the most fragile infants.
The neonatal team addressed the pneumothorax rate and admission temperatures in micropreemies, and ensured team members received continuing education to support these quality initiatives. Dr. Costello created a multi-disciplinary team to tackle these challenges, including doctors, nurses, nurse practitioners, respiratory therapists, NICU parents, the Pediatric Chair, and SLUHN’s Quality Officer.
To learn more about Onsite’s strategy and the success of the SLUHN neonatal team, click here to read the full case study.
