Nathan Littauer Hospital Designated Blue Distinction® Center for Maternity Care Posted on March 17, 2016 by Dakota Pike GLOVERSVILLE – In an effort to help prospective parents find hospitals that deliver quality maternity care, Excellus BlueCross BlueShield announced that Nathan Littauer Hospital has been designated as one of the first hospitals to receive the Blue Distinction Center for Maternity Care designation, a new designation under the Blue Distinction Specialty Care program.Nearly four million babies are born in the U.S. annually, making childbirth the most common cause of hospitalization. This new Blue Distinction Centers for Maternity Care program evaluates hospitals on several quality measures, including the percentage of newborns that fall into the category of early elective delivery, an ongoing concern in the medical community. Compared with babies born 39 weeks or later, early term infants face higher risks of infant death and respiratory ailments such as respiratory distress syndrome, pneumonia, and respiratory failure, among other conditions. These babies also have a higher rate of admission to Neonatal Intensive Care Units.In addition, hospitals that receive a Blue Distinction Center for Maternity Care designation agreed to meet requirements that align with principles that support evidence-based practices of care, as well as having initiated programs to promote successful breastfeeding, as described in the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative by Baby-Friendly USA or the Mother-Friendly Hospital program by the Coalition for Improving Maternity Services (CIMS) through its “Ten Steps of Mother-Friendly Care.” The program also evaluates hospitals on overall patient satisfaction, including a willingness to recommend the hospital to others.Blue Distinction Centers for Maternity Care, an expansion of the national Blue Distinction® Specialty Care program, are hospitals recognized for delivering quality specialty care safely and effectively, based on objective measures developed with input from the medical community.“I am so proud of our team,” said Maureen Mosher, Littauer Manager of Maternal Child Health. “Being one of the first hospitals designated as a Blue Distinction Center for Maternity Care is a distinction we have achieved through our heartfelt dedication to our patients and community.”Blue Cross and Blue Shield (BCBS) companies across the nation have recognized more than 280 hospitals as Blue Distinction Centers for Maternity Care. Hospitals recognized for these designations were assessed using a combination of publicly available quality information and cost measures derived from BCBS companies’ medical claims.Since 2006, the Blue Distinction Specialty Care program has helped patients find quality providers for their specialty care needs in the areas of bariatric surgery, cardiac care, complex and rare cancers, knee and hip replacements, spine surgery and transplants. Research shows that compared to other facilities, those designated as Blue Distinction Centers demonstrate better quality and improved outcomes for patients.For more information about the program, visit www.bcbs.com/bluedistinction.XXX Nathan Littauer Hospital and Family of Health Services serves Fulton, Montgomery, and Hamilton counties in upstate New York with a full-service, 74-bed acute care hospital, nine primary care centers, a nursing home and a community education center. The hospital was founded in 1894 and has 1,000 employees. Nathan Littauer continues to offer the latest in diagnostic imaging, including a new MRI suite. Littauer’s medical staff provides well over 100,000 patient encounters each year. For more information, please visit www.nlh.org.Excellus BlueCross BlueShield, a nonprofit independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, is part of a family of companies that finances and delivers vital health care services to about 1.5 million people across upstate New York. Excellus BlueCross BlueShield provides access to high-quality, affordable health coverage, including valuable health-related resources that our members use every day, such as cost-saving prescription drug discounts and wellness tracking tools. To learn more, visit ExcellusBCBS.com.The Birthing Center at Nathan Littauer Hospital has been designated as one of the first hospitals to receive the Blue Distinction Center for Maternity Care designation
The Birthing Center at announces the Littauer Leapster Posted on March 17, 2016 by Dakota PikeGLOVERSVILLE – Paisley Raye Carpenter made her grand entrance into this world at 9:32 a.m. on Feb. 29, 2016. Waiting until a week after her due-date, she was born at Nathan Littauer Hospital’s Birthing Center on the 2016 Leap Year. She is the daughter of Dallas and Dan Carpenter of Johnstown, and joins a two-year-old brother Ryder. “I haven’t even thought about how we will spend her first birthday,” said Dallas Carpenter. “I know people with birthdays on Feb. 28 and March 1. We may just choose any special day, like St Patrick’s Day? We will do something big every four years for sure,” she added. Feb. 29 pops up every four years to keep up with the disparity in the Gregorian calendar and the earth’s rotation around the sun. Earth’s complete orbit around the sun takes exactly 365.2422 days. Every four years we need to add a day to our 365 day calendar year to keep us in sync with clocks, calendars and seasons. “I was told by people that I would probably have the baby on Leap Year. My first child was born two weeks early, so I never believed Paisley would be this late,” said Dallas. “She is special, and we are so happy.”Littauer Leapster Paisley Ray Carpenter with her parents Dallas and Dan Carpenter of Johnstown. Paisley was born at Nathan Littauer Hospital on Feb. 29, Leap Year 2016
Littauer welcomes Certified Nurse Midwife Julie Tesi to their Women’s Health staff Posted on November 11, 2014 by Dakota PikeGLOVERSVILLE – Littauer Women’s Health welcomes Certified Nurse Midwife Julie Tesi to the Littauer Family of Health Services. Tesi is bringing her expertise in women’s health to Littauer’s Primary & Specialty Care Centers in Gloversville and Perth, as well as to The Birthing Center at Littauer. “I’m really excited to be working at Littauer” Tesi said. “I have a special connection to this place. I did my clinical training here, my internship, I know many of the patients, and enjoy working with the staff.” Tesi has worked closely with Certified Nurse Midwife Joanne Pepe who has brought thousands of local children into the world, and will continue on with the practice, as well as working together with all other professionals in Littauer’s Obstetrics and Gynecology. Tesi is a local practioner who grew up in Gloversville, played soccer at Gloversville High School, and attended Fulton-Montgomery Community College where she got her Associate of Applied Science in Nursing. She attained her Bachelor of Science in Nursing at Chamberlain University, and her from SUNY Stony Brook School of Nursing. A lifelong supporter of the area, Tesi lives in Johnstown and is the mother of four children. “I believe women need to be made aware of all the health care choices they have available” Tesi added. “I feel it is my responsibility to empower women with these choices. It is that important to me.” Tesi will be assuming retiring midwife Joann Pepe’s patient roster. Pepe was one of Littauer’s most trusted and sought-after midwives. She is responsible for bringing an estimated 2000 babies into the world and treasures every experience. She explains that each was “so meaningful, so special” adding it was, “Such a remarkable time to be with families.” “Julie will be the perfect fit to follow-up with my patients” said Pepe. “As a student, she impressed me from the get-go. She has such a nice way, she talks, she listens – she is so knowledgeable and she conveys it so easily.” Pepe pointed out that Tesi is well prepared for her role, as she started out as a Registered Nurse, has had experience with Medical-Surgical, Oncology and Maternity units. “She is still young, but she is not a kid. She is an experienced labor nurse, and a responsible mother of four.” Pepe said she expects Tesi to have a long and fabulous career at Littauer as a midwife. “She has a gift to share with our patients.”Julie Tesi is accepting new patients, and can be reached at Gloversville Women’s Health at (518) 775-4360 on Mondays and Wednesdays or at Perth Women’s Health at (518) 883-8634 on Tuesdays and Fridays.
The New Birthing Center Has Arrived! Posted on December 8, 2009 by Dakota PikeThe New Birthing Center at Littauer has arrived! Come see the newest member of our family. Please join us for anOpen House Nathan Littauer HospitalDecember 15, 20095:30-7:30pmRSVP by December 14, 2009773.5505 or email us at baby@nlh.org
