Evangelical Community Hospital Declared a Keystone 10 Hospital

Evangelical Community Hospital was recently officially designated a Keystone 10 hospital in Pennsylvania by the Department of Health. The Family Place, the Hospital’s obstetrics unit, has been working toward this designation for some time.

The designation is given when a hospital achieves the 10 key components to successful breastfeeding programs. These steps include various stages of policy implementation, training of hospital staff, education and assistance for new mothers before birth and during the hospital stay, and establishment of breastfeeding support after leaving the hospital.

Keystone 10 is a quality improvement breastfeeding initiative developed by the Pennsylvania Department of Health and administered by the Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Its goal is to improve the protection, promotion, and support of breastfeeding for all infants, mothers, and families in Pennsylvania.

The Keystone 10 Initiative was developed as a means of improving individual facility- and state-level breastfeeding care and rates, and ultimately, improving the health of mothers and babies.