Northside Hospital in Atlanta is the first in the country to receive a Maternal Levels of Care Verification from The Joint Commission.
The maternal health verification program was launched in 2022 and involves an on-site review of maternal services by The Joint Commission, which then makes a determination on the hospital's level of maternal care.
Northside Hospital — which delivers more babies than any other hospital in the U.S. — received a level IV designation, meaning it provides "medical and surgical care of the most complex maternal conditions and critically ill pregnant women," according to a Dec. 29 news release. The care level determination was made in partnership with the Georgia Department of Public Health.
"The Joint Commission congratulates Northside Hospital on this outstanding achievement," Brian Enochs, the accrediting body's executive vice president of business development and marketing, said in a statement. "Through the Maternal Levels of Care Verification program, we look forward to working closely with hospitals to identify areas where they may need to strengthen risk-appropriate care to match their population — helping to make care safer for mothers and their babies."