The Alabama Department of Public Health has recognized Gadsden Regional Medical Center’s newborn hearing screening program.
To mark the 50th anniversary of newborn screenings, the state’s Newborn Hearing Screening program has started a monthly award program for the best performing birthing centers in Alabama.
Centers that are recognized met or exceeded benchmarks set forth by the Joint Committee on Infant Hearing and have had consistent electronic reporting of hearing screening results.
Gadsden Regional Medical Center was recognized on Feb. 17, 2013, for their performance during the month of November.
In GRMC’s hospital group, the facility had 88 births, a 2 percent refer rate and a 0 percent non-reported rate.
The standard the ADPH follows is a 4 percent refer rate and less than 5 percent non-reported rate.
In addition to receiving a certificate from ADPH’s audiology consultant Melissa Richardson, the hospital also received a grant for a new hearing screening device in order to continue performing outpatient rescreens for infants who did not pass their hearing screening prior to being discharged.
“Please join Dr. (Don) Williamson and the Alabama Department of Public Health in recognizing the outstanding job performed by the staff of the Women’s and Children’s department at Gadsden Regional Medical Center,” Richardson said.