Gunnison Valley Health's Family Birth Center named a Maternal and Infant Care Quality Champion

The Colorado Perinatal Care Collaborative recently named the Gunnison Valley Health Family Birth Center as a Maternal and Infant Care Quality Champion. Being a part of the collaborative means the Family Birth Center now has access to the latest data, best practices and innovations related to infant and maternal care.

For Shonna Gray, Director of the Family Birth Center, the benefits extend even further than ongoing quality improvement efforts.

“The Colorado Perinatal Care Collaborative not only provides the gold standard for maternal and infant health, being a part of the collaborative provides Gunnison Valley Health an incredible opportunity to have input on the standards for rural hospitals,” Gray said.

The Colorado Perinatal Care Quality Collaborative is a statewide nonprofit network of hospitals, healthcare facilities, clinicians and public health professionals that seeks to improve the health of pregnant and postpartum people, infants and their families through continuous quality improvement.

Working with peers and focusing on best practices and strategies to ensure that services always meet the gold standard enables Gunnison Valley Health to attain the best outcomes for the community.

“Every person associated with the health system has a deep commitment to continuous quality improvement,” said Melinda Sandgren, Director of Care Management. “Initiatives like this help us to have the best patient outcomes possible in every situation. This is an opportunity to ensure that we are always meeting the highest standard of care while simultaneously raising the bar for rural healthcare.”

For Gray and the Family Birth Center nursing staff, the importance of quality initiatives is viewed on a much more personal level.

“When you walk through the doors of the Family Birth Center you see the words ‘Your Community Starts Here’ because the birth of a child is such a crucial moment for families. The beginning or growth of a family is an absolutely unforgettable moment for the mother. We are honored to have the opportunity to help families write their stories and we want them to know that we take the responsibility seriously,” Gray said.