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St. JOSEPH – Spectrum Health Lakeland Niles Hospital has earned a platinum designation for maternal care from the Michigan Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health. Spectrum Health Lakeland Medical Center in St. Joseph also earned gold level designation, the second highest ranking.

MI AIM works with birthing hospitals to reduce and eliminate preventable maternal mortality and severe morbidity. Hospitals implement structured “safety bundle” plans to improve health outcomes for mothers to combat the leading causes of maternal mortality such as obstetric hemorrhage and severe hypertension. Safety bundle plans help hospitals by defining actionable protocols, education, equipment and drills to prevent and treat serious maternal events.

“The health and safety of mothers remains our highest priority at Lakeland,” said Karen Zienert, MD, medical director, obstetrics/gynecology, Spectrum Health Lakeland. “Many pregnancy-related complications are preventable, and through our work with MI AIM we are able to improve care processes and patient outcomes. Our goal is to continuously exceed the national standard of care for obstetrics centers in our community.”

The platinum designation is MI AIM’s highest rating. Spectrum Health Lakeland was one of seven Spectrum Health Hospitals to earn the Platinum designation. The others are:

• Big Rapids Hospital in Big Rapids
• Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids
• United Hospital in Greenville
• Gerber Memorial Hospital in Fremont
• Pennock Hospital in Hastings
• Zeeland Community Hospital in Zeeland

Spectrum Health Ludington Hospital also earned gold level designation, the second highest ranking.