Tagged: WakeMed

WakeMed celebrated Mother's Day by kicking off a campaign to promote breast feeding. The hospital no longer gives out formula or pacifiers to new mothers. WakeMed Women and Children's Services Director Elizabeth Rice says breast feeding is healthier for both infants and mothers. But she says the hospital isn't taking away anyone's right to choose how they feed their baby.

WakeMed is celebrating its 50th anniversary. The public hospital was built by the county government in response to unfulfilled needs for medical care. Today the WakeMed Health and Hospital system runs two hospitals in the county and plans to break ground on a third that will focus on women. WakeMed President and CEO William Atkinson says the facility was the first in the county to provide care for individuals of all races under one roof.

New data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services shows some higher complication rates than average at several area hospitals.

The new online data base at the Medicare website shows rates for eight so-called 'never' events.  Those are complications Medicare officials believe should never happen in hospitals. Those incidents include patients developing bedsores, or doctors leaving objects inside their surgical patients. Medicare has stopped reimbursing hospitals for many of these hospital acquired complications.