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Birth Quality
Designation

With funding from the BCBSIL Special Beginnings® Program, ILPQC celebrates hospitals committed to advancing equitable, high-quality perinatal care across Illinois.

View Resources and Webinars

19

Excellence Award Recipients

12

Star Award Recipients

61

Mini-Grants Disbursed

68

PVB QI Excellence Hospital Teams
Celebrating Hospital Excellence

Recognizing Outstanding Commitment to Equitable Perinatal Care

Congratulations to the teams advancing Birth Quality Designation efforts across Illinois! Hospitals participating in Birth Quality Designation continue to make progress in reducing NTSV cesarean rates, strengthening respectful care practices, and engaging patient and community partners through initiatives such as Respectful Care Breakfasts.

We’re thrilled to share that 61 mini-grants have now been disbursed to support hospitals working toward the Illinois Birthing Hospital Quality Designation Excellence Award. These funds are helping teams sustain the work with Birth Equity (BE) and Promoting Vaginal Births (PVB) goals across the state.

♦ If your hospital has not yet received its mini-grant funds, please reach out to Owusu Bekoe (owusu.bekoe@northwestern.edu) for assistance. ♦

2025 Award Recipients

$20,000 each

Excellence

1 Ascension St. Alexius Medical Center
2 Barnes-Jewish Hospital
3 CGH Medical Center
4 Endeavor Health Elmhurst Hospital
5 Endeavor Health Evanston Hospital
6 Endeavor Health Northwest Community Hospital
7 Endeavor Health Swedish Hospital
8 Gibson Area Hospital
9 Loyola University Medical Center
10 McDonough District Hospital
11 SIH Memorial Hospital of Carbondale
12 Mount Sinai Hospital
13 NM Catherine Gratz Griffin Lake Forest Hospital
14 Northwestern Memorial Hospital
15 OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center
16 Riverside Medical Center
17 Roseland Community Hospital
18 Springfield Memorial Hospital
19 Saint Anthony Hospital
$10,000 each

Star Award

1 Anderson Hospital
2 Advocate Christ Medical Center
3 Advocate Lutheran General Hospital
4 Endeavor Health Highland Park Hospital
5 HSHS St. Francis Hospital
6 MacNeal Hospital
7 Mercyhealth Javon Bae Hospital
8 Northwestern Medicine Central DuPage Hospital
9 Northwestern Medicine Palos Hospital
10 OSF St. Elizabeth Medical Center
11 OSF St. Joseph Medical Center
12 University of Chicago Medical Center

Awards funded by the BCBSIL Special Beginnings® Program

Celebrating Hospital Excellence

2026 Program Year
The Pathway to Designation

Four key steps to earning the Illinois Birthing Hospital Quality Designation for 2026. All hospital teams are encouraged to pursue designation — your commitment to quality improvement matters.
Sept 2025 – Aug 2026

Submit Monthly Data

Submit monthly REDCap data forms (September 2025 – August 2026). All 12 months required for designation.
Deadline: April 3, 2026

Apply for Mini-Grant

Submit your mini-grant application to fund patient engagement, Respectful Care Breakfasts, and QI training.
Throughout 2026

Participate in QI Support

Engage in 2+ QI support contacts per year, including at least one one-to-one meeting or office hours session.
10+ Webinars Required

Attend Webinars

Attend 10+ ILPQC webinars across Quality Designation and Perinatal Mental Health (PMH) tracks.
What You Need to Achieve

2026 Eligibility Criteria

Active ILPQC Participation

Attend webinars and in-person meetings
Submit 12 consecutive months of REDCap data
Complete at least 2 QI support contacts/year
Attend at least 1 one-to-one or office hours

Educate Clinical Teams

Implicit bias training for all OB clinical staff
Perinatal Mental Health (PMH) training — 80% completion target
Doula-friendly culture training and integration

Engage Patients & Community

Identified patient partner engaged in QI team
Respectful Care Breakfasts — 2+ per year
Doula-friendly policies and culture
SDOH linkage ≥70%

Achieve QI Aims

NTSV cesarean rate ≤25% overall and for BIPOC patients
New
PMH screening ≥80%
PREM survey improvement over baseline
SDOH linkage ≥70%
Application and Information

Mini-Grants

All hospital teams are eligible to receive mini-grants to support implementation of key strategies. Each hospital team can receive up to $3,750 per year to support patient and community engagement activities, quality improvement (QI) science, and equity training.

Respectful Care Breakfasts

Up to $500

For two or more breakfasts per year with patient partners and community members
Patient Partner Payment

Up to $300

Compensation for participation in up to 6 QI team meetings per year
Mommas Voices Training

Up to $450

Per patient partner — for teams with an identified patient advisor
Clinical Staff Training

Up to $2,500

IHI training, doula integration, Spinning Babies, equity-focused training for clinical teams
Apply For 2026 Mini-Grant
Save the Dates

2026 Events & Webinar Schedule

Quality Designation Webinars

January 27, 2026
April 14, 2026
June 23, 2026

Perinatal Mental Health (PMH) Webinars

Feb 23 · Mar 23 · Apr 27
Jun 22 · Jul 27 · Aug 24
Sept 21 · Oct 19 · Dec 21

Quality Designation Webinars

May 20–21, 2026
Location TBD
Annual OB & Neonatal in-person meeting
Mark Your Calendar

14th Annual ILPQC Conference – November 10, 2026

Westin Lombard Yorktown Center · Lombard, IL

Resources

Our goal is to keep you informed and equipped with evidence-based resources that advance maternal and infant health. We invite you to explore our updates and share in the work of improving outcomes for all families.

Stay engaged. Stay informed. Together, we make care better.