Silver Cross Hospital Earns Blue Distinction Center+ Designation for Maternity Care

For delivering safe, high-quality care to women and newborns, Silver Cross Hospital has earned the Blue Distinction Centers+ designation for Maternity Care by Blue Cross Blue Shield, the highest Blue Cross award for acute care and specialty hospitals across the U.S.

Maternity care centers that achieve this designation demonstrate high-quality care for vaginal and cesarean section deliveries, higher patient satisfaction ratings, a lower percentage of early elective deliveries, and more affordability. Additionally, they adhere to evidence-based care guidelines and promote successful breastfeeding.

“Silver Cross is proud to be recognized by Blue Cross Blue Shield for meeting the rigorous criteria of the Blue Distinction Centers+ program,” said Ruth Colby, President and Chief Executive Officer of Silver Cross Hospital. “This belongs to every member of our obstetrics/gynecology team, our nurses, medical, and support staff, who are dedicated to providing superior mother/baby care and excellent outcomes for patients.”

With 3,000 births each year, the Women and Infant Services Birthing Center at Silver Cross is the busiest in Will County. It features 15 private birthing suites, three of which have immersion tubs. The unit also features couplet care, which means the same registered nurse cares for mother and baby throughout their stay.

To care for premature or ill newborns, Silver Cross opened the 24-bed Amy, Matthew and Jay Vana Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in summer 2022. The unit is the first and only Level III NICU in Will County.

The NICU staff is specially trained to care for babies born before 30 weeks gestational age, and those with birth defects, infections, breathing difficulties, or other high-risk conditions.

Silver Cross partners with the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago to staff the NICU. Lurie specialists also see newborns through an outpatient pediatric clinic in Silver Cross Hospital’s Pavilion B.

For more information, please visit silvercross.org/care-treatment/pregnancy/.