UAB Wins 9 Parent’s Choice Awards

UAB took top spots in four categories—Best Fertility Specialist, Best Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), Best Family-Friendly Company, and Best Family Corporation—in Alabama Baby & Child and Birmingham Magazine’s joint 2012 Parent’s Choice Awards. UAB Women & Infants Center also clenched five runners-up nods, for Best Gynecologist, Best OB/GYN Practice, Best Hospital to Have a Baby, Best Birthing Suite, and Best Orthopedist.
 

Best Fertility Specialist
G. Wright Bates, MD, associate professor and director of the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, received Best Fertility Specialist honors for the second straight year. Dr. Bates credits his outstanding team: Doctors Blackwell, McLaren, Wellons, McKnight, Bowling, McLean and Edmonds as well as the division's nurses and support staff for the exceptional care they provide. "I am honored to represent Women's services at UAB, but it is our patients, the women and couples, who display tremendous determination and effort to become parents who deserve all the praise," Bates says.

UAB’s Infertility Program has recently achieved unsurpassed levels of success as more than 60% of women seeking pregnancy have conceived with IVF. The program has recently opened a new, state-of-the-art facility for the treatment of male and female infertility. The advanced technology and treatment options, including medical and surgical therapies, are offered in a warm and caring private-practice setting. As a University-affiliated practice, UAB infertility specialists utilize the latest treatment advances and participate in many ground-breaking research developments.

Best Hospital NICU
UAB’s Regional NICU is the only Level IIIC (the highest level) NICU in the state, in conjunction with Children’s Hospital of Alabama, and the only NICU in the state with full perinatal and pediatric cardiovascular services. The NICU treats 1,500 infants each year and is the largest all-private room NICU in the country. The Women and Infants Center is also home to a Continuing Care Nursery (CCN), providing extended step-down care.

UAB's Women & Infants Center received runner up honors for Best Hospital to Have a Baby and Best Birthing Suite, and is home to Best OB/GYN Practice Runner Up and Best Gynecologist Runner Up Heather Greer, MD. “It was such a pleasant surprise and true honor to be recognized,” Greer says. “This is a team award that reflects on the high quality of care that myself and my colleagues provide to our patients.” 

Best Family-Friendly Company and Best Family Corporation
Competitive benefits, job security, flexible schedules, and supportive managers and staff make UAB an ideal place to work for employees who aim to balance their professional life with their family. UAB cares for countless area families through its medical, research, support groups, and many, many other efforts.

“We are thrilled that UAB was recognized in the Parents’ Choice Awards,” says UAB Health System Human Resources Executive Director Marty Box. “Creating a family-friendly environment involves strategic planning to ensure our benefits meet family needs, but also involves day-to-day flexibility to support our employees when they have a specific need.  Our leaders do a great job finding creative ways to meet those individual needs when they arise.”    

Best Orthopedist Runner Up
Scott Doyle, MD, associate professor has been at UAB for 15 years. He completed his undergraduate education at Washington & Lee University in Virginia, attended medical school at the University of Virginia, and completed his internship and residency at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Doyle did his fellowship at the Shriner's Hospital for Crippled Children in Greenville, South Carolina. 
 

Note: Throughout March and April 2012, nearly 4,000 people participated in the Parent’s Choice Awards poll on bhammag.com. Winners were chosen in 80 categories, from healthcare to birthday cake. View the complete list of winners  here.