HAP's Latest News

This year, HAP released an action plan for Pennsylvania hospitals and policymakers to improve maternal health quality, equity, and access. Following our inaugural Maternal Health Summit, we’re spotlighting promising practices and innovations that Pennsylvania hospitals have implemented to improve care for moms and babies.

Since 2020, having a baby in rural America has become more and more challenging as hospitals close, access to services declines, and travel time to service providers increases, according to a report from the Center for Healthcare Quality & Payment Reform.

Ensuring the safety of new mothers and the healthy outcome of their pregnancies doesn’t stop at the hospital doorstep. One of the biggest post-delivery complications for mothers is hypertension. To address this potentially fatal health risk, experts at Main Line Health have created a remote blood pressure monitoring program to support mothers at home following delivery.

Today, the state Senate Institutional Sustainability & Innovation Committee advanced HAP-supported proposals to support nurse education, rural health, and collaborative care models.

The state Senate yesterday passed a bill that would create a pathway to licensure for Certified Midwives (CM) in Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania’s hospital community is leading the charge to improve maternal health. On Wednesday, HAP hosted our first Maternal Health Summit in Harrisburg, convening health care leaders and community partners to share their latest innovations to support maternal health in their communities.

This year, HAP released an action plan for Pennsylvania hospitals and policymakers to improve maternal health quality, equity, and access. Ahead of our inaugural maternal health summit, we’re spotlighting promising practices and innovations that Pennsylvania hospitals have implemented to improve care for moms and babies.

This year, HAP released an action plan for Pennsylvania hospitals and policymakers to improve maternal health quality, equity, and access. Ahead of our inaugural maternal health summit, we’re spotlighting promising practices and innovations that Pennsylvania hospitals have implemented to improve care for moms and babies.

Healthy outcomes for mothers, particularly in rural settings, are often a matter of collaboration, according to Rebecca Couch, RN, inpatient nursing operations manager of labor and delivery for Geisinger Lewistown Hospital. With that in mind, Gesinger Medical Center and Geisinger Lewistown Hospital launched a program aimed at improving maternal care in their communities by strengthening relationships with midwives and other community-based birth workers.

It’s clear that mothers benefit from obstetric care but hospital-based services, particularly in rural areas, are getting harder to find, according to a study from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health.