New Report Names 21 PA Hospitals as ‘Best’ for Maternity Care

Choosing the Best Maternity Hospital in Pennsylvania: A Comprehensive Guide

With 680 hospitals across the country being ranked, parents are provided with a valuable guide to assist in one of their life’s most significant decisions – determining where their baby will be born. Each hospital participating in the U.S. News survey is furnished with a scorecard indicating their performance on a set of criteria that parents typically consider while choosing a maternity hospital.

Jennifer Winston, U.S. News’ health data scientist, clarified in a news release that the top-ranking hospitals in the survey are those labeled as “high performing” in providing care to patients with uncomplicated pregnancies. These hospitals have Cesarean Section rates equal to or less than 26 percent and newborn complication rates at a maximum of 37 percent.

Leading High-Performing Maternity Hospitals in Pennsylvania

Out of the 41 hospitals from Pennsylvania that took part in the U.S. News maternity services survey, the following 21 hospitals have been acknowledged with the ‘high performing’ designation, thanks to their exceptional maternity care services:

• Einstein Medical Center Montgomery
• Geisinger-Bloomsburg Hospital
• Independence Health System – Westmoreland Hospital
• Jefferson Health-Abington Hospital
• Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest
• Lehigh Valley Hospital-Hazleton
• Lehigh Valley Hospital-Pocono
• Main Line Health Riddle Hospital
• Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center
• UPMC Altoona
• UPMC Carlisle
• UPMC Harrisburg
• UPMC Horizon
• UPMC Lititz
• UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital
• UPMC Memorial
• UPMC Williamsport
• WellSpan Chambersburg Hospital
• WellSpan Ephrata Community Hospital
• WellSpan Good Samaritan Hospital
• West Penn Hospital

Introducing the ‘Maternity Care Access Hospitals’ List

This year’s rankings introduced an important new category – the “Maternity Care Access Hospitals” list. This list comprises 73 hospitals that provide crucial maternity services in areas that would otherwise be maternity care deserts, thus fulfilling an otherwise overlooked need for local access to maternity care,” said Winston.

In Pennsylvania, the following hospitals have made it to the Maternity Care Access Hospitals list:

• UPMC Northwest
• Geisinger Lewistown Hospital
• Lehigh Valley Hospital-Schuylkill South Jackson Street
• WellSpan Good Samaritan Hospital
• UPMC Carlisle
• WellSpan Chambersburg Hospital
• Lehigh Valley Hospital-Pocono
• UPMC Williamsport

The rankings are based on objective quality measures, including C-section rate, lower-risk pregnancies, newborn complication rates, exclusive breast milk feeding rates, early elective delivery rates, birthing-friendly practices and transparency on racial/ethnic disparities, among others. For more detailed insights into the ranking methodology, click here.