Mercy Medical Center Redding Recognized for Maternity and Opioid Care

Redding, Calif. – Mercy Medical Center Redding earned honor roll recognition for their high performance in maternity care and commitment to safe opioid care by California Health and Human Services Agency Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly, and Cal Hospital Compare.

“Improving the quality of patient care in hospitals is critically important,” said Dr. Ghaly. “These annual measurements through Cal Hospital Compare allow us to acknowledge hospitals doing excellent work and also inform hospitals when improvement is needed.”

The 2019 Maternity Honor Roll recognizes 134 hospitals that met or surpassed the federal target aimed at reducing births via C-section in first-time mothers with low-risk pregnancies. Every year approximately 500,000 babies are born in California. In fact, childbirth is the number one reason for hospitalization in the U.S. and California. For mothers, overuse of cesarean sections (C-sections) can result in higher rates of complications like hemorrhage, transfusions, infection, and blood clots. The surgery also brings risks for babies, including higher rates of infection, respiratory complications, neonatal intensive care unit stays, and lower breastfeeding rates.

This year Cal Hospital Compare launched the Opioid Care Honor Roll to help address the ongoing opioid crisis. According to state data, nearly 2,200 Californians died of an opioid-related overdose in 2017. To accelerate hospital progress in building systems to treat hospitalized patients with opioid use disorder and train health care professionals in opioid safety practices, Cal Hospital Compare supports the California Opioid Care Honor Roll Program. The goal of the program is increased access to addiction treatment for hospitalized patients and reduction of opioid-related deaths. Mercy Medical Center Redding recently implemented a new program that will provide 24/7 treatment for substance use disorders. The California Bridge Program considers the emergency room and acute care hospitals as a critical window for initiating treatment. Redding Rancheria Recovery Center partnered with Mercy Medical Center Redding as a Bridge Clinic.

About Dignity Health North State

Mercy Medical Center Redding, St. Elizabeth Community Hospital in Red Bluff, and Mercy Medical Center Mt. Shasta are Dignity Health North State hospitals sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy of Auburn. The hospitals are passionate about patient care, committed to community outreach, advocates for the underserved, and dedicated to delivering quality, affordable health services to those in need.  In 2019, the Dignity Health North State Hospitals cared for more than 90,000 people and provided more than $22 million in community benefit to the region we serve.  The hospitals also offer a broad array of outpatient services and the senior services of Connected Living.  Visit www.mercy.org to learn more.