Baptist Medical Center Jacksonville and Baptist Medical Center South receive national designation for excellent obstetric anesthesia care

For women who choose to have an epidural or require a spinal block during childbirth, excellent anesthesia care is critical for a comfortable labor and delivery process.

Baptist Jacksonville and Baptist South are the first hospitals in Florida to receive a national four-year designation for excellence in obstetric anesthesia care from the Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology (SOAP). Both hospitals were named Centers of Excellence for anesthesia care, a designation usually awarded to university-based medical facilities due to the rigor of the application process.

Fewer than 100 health systems worldwide have earned SOAP Center of Excellence designation since 2018. The criteria for the COE designation include personnel and staffing; equipment, protocols, and policies; simulation and team training; obstetric emergency management; cesarean delivery and labor analgesia care; recommendations and guidelines implementation; and quality assurance and patient follow-up systems.

“This prestigious recognition is a testament to the quality of anesthesia care we provide our maternal patients,” said Sanjeev Patel, MD, FASA, an anesthesiologist who practices at Baptist Health. “We have an experienced team of OB anesthesiologists and OB anesthetists who care for patients in the Labor & Delivery units 24/7. The team follows established, evidence-based protocols and policies, and have the resources to provide care for obstetric emergencies.”

Baptist Health’s Enhanced Recovery after Delivery program (ERAD) was recognized as one of the reasons for receiving the Center of Excellence designation. The program encourages patients to take an active role in improving their outcomes. ERAD helps reduce anxiety, decrease pain, promotes healing and helps increase energy levels during and after labor. Patients return to normal activities faster, and are better able to bond with their babies and go home earlier.