NICHQ News

BOSTON – The National Institute for Children’s Health Quality (NICHQ) announces an award of $6.9M in growth funding to promote a new paradigm in which Communities, Hospitals, and state Perinatal Quality Collaboratives (PQCs) work together to eliminate disparities in maternal and infant mortality. This significant award will launch the Community-Centered Hospital Initiative (CCHI), developed by the NICHQ team, to address the stark and persistent disparities in the health outcomes of mothers, birthing people, and infants by strengthening collaboration and power-sharing between Communities and Hospitals.

The National Institute for Children’s Health Quality (NICHQ) is proud to announce receiving the Supporting Healthy Start Performance Project (SHSPP) award of $3.5M per year for five years from the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Maternal and Child Health Bureau (HRSA MCHB). This award builds on NICHQ’s role as the Healthy Start Technical Assistance and Support Center (TASC) from 2019-2024.

BOSTON – Maternity Care Clinicians’ Experiences Promoting Infant Safe Sleep and Breastfeeding During the COVID-19 Pandemic details findings from a study led by NICHQ researchers of maternity care services of 10 U.S. hospitals from April through September 2020. Participants were asked about challenges and opportunities promoting infant safe sleep and breastfeeding during the pandemic. Published: March 10, 2023 | Nursing for Women's Health

The National Institute for Children’s Health Quality (NICHQ) is pleased to announce the recent promotions of two dedicated members of our Communications and Development teams. Join NICHQ in celebrating our staff and welcoming them to their new roles.  

BOSTON – Community-based approaches to infant safe sleep and breastfeeding promotion: a qualitative study, led by the National Institute for Children’s Health Quality (NICHQ), details opportunities and challenges to improve community-level promotion of infant safe sleep (ISS) and breastfeeding in communities vulnerable to infant safe sleep and breastfeeding disparities. Published: March 7, 2023 | BMC Public Health

Dr. Zsakeba Henderson will join the National Institute for Children’s Health Quality as a Senior Medical Advisor, where she will advise NICHQ President and CEO Scott D. Berns, MD, MPH, FAAP, to help advance the work of the organization to ensure every child achieves their optimal health.

BOSTON – The National Institute for Children’s Health Quality (NICHQ) was awarded a generous $4M donation in unrestricted funds from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott to advance its vision of every child achieving their optimal health. “To give an unrestricted gift is to put an immense amount of trust and responsibility in a nonprofit,” said NICHQ CEO Scott Berns, MD, MPH in the Boston Globe. “I promise we are a worthy cause.”

BOSTON – The National Institute for Children’s Health Quality (NICHQ) recently launched a new Health Equity Innovation Department, led by VP of Equity Innovation Stacy Scott, PhD, MPA, with the goal of accelerating strategies that address systemic health inequities. Some of the ongoing work the Health Equity Innovation Department will support is the Equity Systems Audit Tool, co-created by NICHQ and the Global Infant Safe Sleep (GISS) Center to assess implicit and explicit bias in healthcare systems. The department will also support internal equity engagement and support existing projects to ensure they are effectively incorporating equity. New projects related to health equity will be identified and prioritized within the next few months. 

The National Institute for Children’s Health Quality (NICHQ) will serve as the coordinating center for the National Network of Perinatal Quality Collaboratives (NNPQC), a five-year cooperative agreement funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). As a continuation and expansion upon the last five years, NICHQ will support Perinatal Quality Collaboratives (PQCs) in their efforts to reduce maternal and infant morbidity and mortality, improve perinatal health outcomes, and reduce disparities using quality improvement (QI) methods integrated with a health equity approach.  

Three experts in health care transformation have been elected to the National Institute for Children’s Healthy Quality (NICHQ) Board of Directors. LaToshia Rouse, CD (DONA) joined the NICHQ board in March 2022, and Jeanette Betancourt, Ed. D., and Laurie Doran, MPH, joined in August 2022. 

The National Institute for Children’s Health Quality (NICHQ) is pleased to announce the recent promotions of several dedicated members of our Development, Finance, and Programs teams. Join NICHQ in celebrating our staff and welcoming them to their new roles.  

In response to the national maternal perinatal mental health crisis, The National Institute for Children’s Health Quality (NICHQ) has joined the Mind the Gap Initiative, a coalition of women, families, and leading organizations, led by Postpartum Support International (PSI), who have set forth a national strategic action plan to turn the tide on the crisis.