VALLEY BAPTIST-BROWNSVILLE RECEIVES 3 STATE AWARDS FOR IMMUNIZATIONS,
DOCUMENTING PATERNITY FOR NEWBORN BABIES, BIRTH REGISTRY

Brownsville, December 31, 2007  –- Valley Baptist Medical Center-Brownsville has received three state awards for contributing to the health of Texas children through immunizations, establishing paternity (fatherhood) for newborn babies so they can receive the support of both parents, and for maintaining important birth registry / vital statistics records for Brownsville and Valley residents.

Mary Olvera and Nidia Alanis, Birth Registrars for Valley Baptist-Brownsville, received the triple recognition recently during the 53rd Annual Texas Vital Statistics Conference in Austin.

“These latest awards are another testament to the dedication of our awesome employees in providing the very best service to all of our patients,” said Leslie Bingham, CEO for VBMC-Brownsville. “We congratulate Mary and Nidia for their excellent work.”

Alex Hernandez, Medical Records Director for VBMC-Brownsville, said the first award recognizes Ms. Olvera and Ms. Alanis for “excellence and exemplary performance” for implementation of a newborn consent process for the Texas Immunization Registry, called “ImmTrac.”

A second certificate of appreciation, which came from the Texas Attorney General’s office, notes that Valley Baptist-Brownsville exceeded the state average of 71% in recording acknowledgement of paternity of newborn babies. This the second straight year VBMC-Brownsville has been recognized for helping to document the fathers of babies born at the hospital, thereby helping children to receive support from the father as well as the mother.

The third award, a Five Star Vital Registration Award from the Texas Department of State Health Services’ Vital Statistics Division, recognizes VBMC-Brownsville for timelines and standardization in completing 92% or better of birth registration releases within five days of a baby’s birth, using standard procedures through the Texas Electronic Registrar system. The award also recognizes the hospital’s staff for keeping up with training through attending state conferences on vital statistics; for completing paternity acknowledgement records; and for using Texas Immunization Registry enrollment forms as encouraged by the state. This is the third year that VBMC-Brownsville has received the Five Star Award.

For more information, visit www.ValleyBaptist.net.