OPC Hires New Quality Improvement Coordinator
The Oregon Perinatal Collaborative is thrilled to announce that we have hired Laurel Durham as our new Quality Improvement Coordinator!
Laurel Durham, RN, MPH, is a leader in maternal and infant health who comes to us with extensive experience in quality improvement. She started her career as a labor and delivery nurse 27 years ago.
Her passion for holistic care of women and children led her to multiple roles in clinic, community health and administrative leadership settings, most recently as the Senior Director of Women and Children’s Services at Providence. She has participated in OPC as a member of both our steering committee and our governing board. She is most inspired when she is working with diverse individuals, communities and multidisciplinary teams towards a common goal and is excited to support quality improvement work across the state.
Please join us in welcoming Laurel! We are excited for the increased capacity and skill that OPC will have with her on board.
Women’s History Month and Perinatal Care
In honor of Women’s History Month, we celebrate the invaluable contributions of women to perinatal care. From the ancient practice of midwifery to the development of modern gynecology, women have been instrumental in shaping this field. This month, let’s honor these histories and continue to advocate for inclusive, compassionate care for all.
Read more about the history of midwifery, and Anarcha, Lucy and Betsey and the history of modern gynecology through the following:
The Origins of Midwifery by the International Confederation of Midwives
The Importance of Recognizing Lucy, Betsey and Anarcha In this video, doctors Veronica Maria Pimentel and Deirdre Cooper Owens reflect on the importance of recognizing Lucy, Betsey and Anarcha, and discuss how the history of obstetrics and gynecology is painfully intertwined with slavery, how it affects our current health disparities, and why it’s important to learn from our past.
Webinar: Prevention of Congenital Syphilis
The National Network of Perinatal Quality Collaboratives and National Institute for Children’s Health Quality are hosting Oregon PQC Board members Silke Akerson and Tim Menza who will share up-to-date information about congenital syphilis along with strategies for communicating with hospital partners about screening and treatment best practices, working with emergency departments and building relationships with non-hospital partners such as county health departments, treatment centers, jails and prisons. Bring your own experiences and questions about working to prevent congenital syphilis as we will prioritize time for discussion and skill-sharing.
Thursday, April 25, 2024 | 10–11 a.m. (PT)
Webinar: Rural Maternal Health Series
The Federal Office of Rural Health Policy, in collaboration with the Rural Health Information Hub, is producing a webinar series that aims to enhance access to safe and high-quality maternity care in rural areas. This series focuses on rural hospitals both with and without birthing units. The goal is to assist facilities in understanding the new “Birthing-Friendly” Hospital Designation, perinatal quality care collaboratives, patient safety and obstetric readiness. All sessions will be recorded and publicly available. Click the registration button below for times, topics and registration.
Every other Tuesday, March 12–April 23, 2024
Webinar Series: Using Change Packages to Support AIM Bundle Implementation
These sessions run January through April 2024 on the second Wednesday of each month. The next, and last, session is April 10, 2024, 11 a.m.–12 p.m. (PT). Recordings of previous sessions can be found here.
Substance Use Disorder in Prenatal and Perinatal Care
The Oregon ECHO Network is hosting a series of virtual sessions about substance use disorder identification and treatment for prenatal and perinatal people, with a special focus on opioid use disorder and illicit non-pharmaceutical fentanyl. These sessions will cover a variety of subtopics and qualify for continuing medical education credits (CMEs).
Schedule: 12 sessions Tuesdays, April 2–June 18, 2024 | 12–1 p.m. (PT)
Severe Hypertension in Pregnancy Patient Safety Bundle
Interested in learning more about the next OPC initiative? For more information on the Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health’s Patient Safety Bundle on Severe Hypertension in Pregnancy, follow this link for a list of resources.
OPC Hospital Outreach Initiative
The Oregon Perinatal Collaborative will be visiting all 47 birthing hospitals in Oregon in 2024 to build relationships and to ensure that our quality improvement initiatives are responsive to the needs of Oregon hospitals and communities. We’ll be reaching out to schedule a listening session with maternal and newborn staff leaders at each hospital to learn about the challenges hospitals face in providing care and how the OPC could support each hospital in quality improvement. We’re looking forward to these meetings! Have a contact at your hospital OPC should reach out to? Please contact akersons@ohsu.edu.
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| Our work is supported by cooperative agreement NU58DP006358, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as funding from the Oregon Chapter of the March of Dimes. Additional in-kind donations have been made through Comagine Health, Oregon Health & Science University, and our generous volunteers. |
