Memorial Hospital West has been recognized by the National Safe Sleep Hospital Certification Program as a “Gold Safe Sleep Champion” for their commitment to best practices and education on infant safe sleep.
The hospital – part of the Memorial Healthcare System- is the first hospital in Broward County and one of the first hospitals in Florida to receive the title according to officials with Cribs for Kids®, the group that issued the designation. The National Safe Sleep Hospital Certification Program was created by Cribs for Kids®, a Pittsburgh-based organization dedicated to preventing infant, sleep-related deaths due to accidental suffocation.
“Sleep-related deaths result in the loss of more than 3,500 infants every year in the U.S.,” said Michael H. Goodstein, M.D., neonatologist and medical director of research at Cribs for Kids®. “We know that consistent education can have a profound effect on infant mortality, and this program is designed to encourage safe sleep education and to recognize those hospitals that are taking an active role in reducing these preventable deaths.”
In addition to being Cribs for Kids® partners, Memorial Hospital West was recognized for its development of a hospital policy, staff training, parent education, modeling through a wearable blanket program and a pledge to participate in ongoing audits.
