These Are the Best Hospitals for Black Maternal Care, US News Reports

In a nation where Black women are still four times more likely to suffer from fatal pregnancy-related complications than their white counterparts, there’s an urgent need for widespread change among America’s hospitals. Trainings must be held, explicit and implicit biases must be addressed, and hospitals that fail Black mothers must be held accountable—just to name a few actions that must be taken. But as thousands work toward this systematic change during Black Maternal Health Week and year-round, U.S. News and World Report has dedicated its resources to helping parents-to-be and mothers find the best hospitals for their care.

Each year U.S. News compiles a list of the best maternity hospitals around the country. This past year, the organization reviewed objective data submitted by 680 hospitals to determine which institutions provided the best care for patients. This year, they’ve taken this report to another by identifying 26 hospitals in 13 states that have achieved “excellent outcomes for cesarean section and unexpected newborn complications among Black patients.”

“For Black Maternal Health Week 2024, we celebrate these hospitals’ success in their important work supporting and advancing Black maternal health as part of U.S. News’ ongoing commitment to health equity and our support of women’s access to maternity care,” Jennifer Winston, Ph.D., a health data scientist at U.S. News explained in a press release.

The 26 hospitals recognized were not only rated High Performing in U.S. News’ Best Hospitals for Maternity Care list and served at least 20 Black patients per year, but they all boast newborn complication rates of less than 2.62 percent and c-section rates of less than 23.9 percent (among hospitals providing a higher level of care) or 23.6 percent (among hospitals not providing a higher level of care) among Black patients.

The Best Maternity Hospitals for Black Patients Include:

• Allina Health United Hospital (Saint Paul, MN)
• Arrowhead Regional Medical Center (Colton, CA)
• Atrium Health Pineville (Charlotte, NC)
• Aurora Medical Center-Grafton (Grafton, WI)
• Bakersfield Memorial Hospital (Bakersfield, CA)
• Bethesda North Hospital (Cincinnati, OH)
• Capital Health Medical Center-Hopewell (Pennington, NJ)
• Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital (Roanoke, VA)
• Henry Ford Wyandotte Hospital (Wyandotte, MI)
• Kaiser Permanente Westside Medical Center (Hillsboro, OR)
• Lakeland Regional Health Medical Center (Lakeland, FL)
• Methodist Hospital of Sacramento (Sacramento, CA)
• Miami Valley Hospital (Dayton, OH)
• Novant Health Forsyth Medical Center (Winston-Salem, NC)
• Novant Health Matthews Medical Center (Matthews, NC)
• Overlook Medical Center (Summit, NJ)
• Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center (Pomona, CA)
• Saint Francis Hospital-Tulsa (Tulsa, OK)
• Sentara Martha Jefferson Hospital (Charlottesville, VA)
• St. Catherine Hospital-East Chicago (East Chicago, IN)
• Sutter Delta Medical Center (Antioch, CA)
• UNC REX Hospital (Raleigh, NC)
• UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital (Pittsburgh, PA)
• Virtua Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital (Camden, NJ)
• WakeMed Cary Hospital (Cary, NC)
• WakeMed Raleigh Campus (Raleigh, NC)

Researchers call out some regional highlights among these hospitals, including the fact that North Carolina has the most recognized hospitals (6), while the Midwest boasts the most states with high-performing hospitals (Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin). Interested in learning more about high-performing maternity hospitals near you? You can search for local hospitals and view their outcomes, processes and structure ratings at Health.USNews.com.