Pen Bay Medical Center and Waldo County General Hospital have been recognized by the National Safe Sleep Hospital Certification Program at the silver level for their commitment to best practices in promoting infant safe sleep.

The National Safe Sleep Hospital Certification Program was created by Cribs for Kids, the only national infant safe sleep organization. Based in Pittsburgh, Cribs for kids is dedicated to preventing infant sleep-related deaths due to accidental suffocation. As nationally certified Safe Sleep Hospitals, PBMC and WCGH are recognized for following the safe sleep guidelines recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and training care team members and family caregivers.

“We know that modeling safe infant sleep in the hospital and providing education to families has a significant effect on infant mortality,” said Kathleen Hastings, BS, RN, IBCLC, the director of the Women’s Health programs at PBMC and WCGH, in a news release. “Cribs for Kids Hospital Certification Program is designed to recognize those hospitals that are taking an active role in reducing these preventable deaths.”

The National Safe Sleep Hospital Certification Program was created in partnership with leading infant health and safety organizations including The National Center for the Review & Prevention of Child Deaths, Association of SIDS and Infant Mortality Programs and the American SIDS Institute, among others.

For more information about women’s and infant’s health care services at PBMC and WCGH, call the Pen Bay Women’s Health Center at 301-8900 and the Waldo County Medical Partners Women’s Health department at 505-4332.

About Pen Bay Medical Center

Pen Bay Medical Center is part of MaineHealth, a not-for-profit integrated health system consisting of eight local hospital systems, a comprehensive behavioral healthcare network, diagnostic services, home health agencies, and more than 1,600 employed and independent physicians working together through an Accountable Care Organization. With more than 19,000 employees, MaineHealth is the largest health system in northern New England and provides preventive care, diagnosis and treatment to 1.1 million residents in Maine and New Hampshire. For more information, please visit pbmc.org.

Waldo County General Hospital
Waldo County General Hospital is part of MaineHealth, a not-for-profit integrated health system consisting of eight local hospital systems, a comprehensive behavioral healthcare network, diagnostic services, home health agencies, and more than 1,600 employed and independent physicians working together through an Accountable Care Organization. With more than 19,000 employees, MaineHealth is the largest health system in northern New England and provides preventive care, diagnosis and treatment to 1.1 million residents in Maine and New Hampshire. For more information, please visit wcgh.org.