Austin, Texas - (June 6, 2008) - Seton Northwest, Seton Southwest and University Medical Center Brackenridge have been recognized by the State of Texas as among the best in the state for screening newborn babies for hearing loss.
"Three of Seton's hospitals earned top marks with its recent certification as a 'Distinguished Newborn Hearing Screening Program', the highest rating possible for a birthing hospital in Texas," said Susan Ourston, clinical nursing manager, Seton Southwest. "We're proud to help families in our community through this effort that is preventing many infants from suffering developmental delays associated with undetected hearing loss".
The Texas Department of State Health Services monitors hospital-based hearing screening programs to ensure specific quality benchmarks are met. To be certified, hospitals must screen newborns for hearing loss, refer those who need follow-up testing to audiologists and inform parents and family doctors of hearing screening results. Certified hospitals have demonstrated a commitment to ensuring that those babies born with hearing loss are diagnosed early and channeled to the best resources to get medical and educational attention.
The Texas newborn hearing screening program is one of the largest of its kind in the world and has continually ranked as one of the best in country since being implemented in 2001 by the Texas Legislature. Nearly 400,000 babies in Texas are screened annually because of this program.
Seton is proud to have four hospitals – the only hospitals in Central Texas - that have earned the