Comanche County Memorial Hospital is celebrating after they received a National award for offering quality care to both mothers and newborns.

They’re the second in the state to earn Perinatal Certification from The Joint Commission, and the first to have both the certification and designation as a baby-friendly hospital.

Paula Griffith, the director of women and children services at CCMH, said they started working on getting both before the pandemic hit.

“It was really a journey to achieve it. There are a lot of high standards that we had to meet to achieve it, and we met those standards,” said Griffith.

The Joint Commission looks to see if they meet the required evidence-based guidelines, so she said they had to do an analysis to look at what they were doing and make necessary changes.

“A lot of the guidelines we actually already met because we try to stay because we try to stay on top of things and what’s the best evidence-based practice for our moms and babies, and then we were surveyed to all those guidelines,” said Griffith.

Griffith said the certification and designation show how committed the staff is to the moms and babies at the hospital.

“Approximately 80% of our staff have actually gone above and beyond what the requirement is for them to be nurses. But have actually gone on to be certified in their specialty, and that just makes them stand out, and they’re just the best staff possible to care for moms and babies,” she said.

While receiving the certification is exciting for staff, she said it also lets parents and future parents know what to expect.

“When you come into our hospital when you choose our hospital to deliver your baby, that you’re going to receive the best care possible. You have the best staff caring for you, we’re going to keep you safe, and we’re going to give you the best experience to care for you when you deliver at this facility,” said Griffith.

CCMH received the certification from the Joint Commission in June of this year and they’ve been designated as a Baby-Friendly hospital since 2015.

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