DeCroce Named 'Champion' for Work in Health Care for Women and Babies

District 26 Assemblywoman BettyLou DeCroce received the New Jersey Primary Care Association’s “Community Health Center Champion Award” for 2013 at a special ceremony Friday at the Golden Nugget Hotel in Atlantic City. The association said DeCroce was recognized for her commitment to improving outcomes in high-risk pregnancies throughout the Garden State.

“I am sincerely humbled by this recognition and would like to thank the NJPCA for this honor,” said the lawmaker, who represents citizens of Morris, Essex and Passaic counties. “In New Jersey, we are fortunate to have access to some of the best medical care in the country. That being said, there’s no excuse for not making sure we provide high-risk, expectant mothers and their babies with the best possible care and outcomes.” 

DeCroce sponsored Assembly Bill A-4056, which she said would improve outcomes in high-risk pregnancies and improve the health of low-income mothers and their newborns with more thorough testing and pre-natal care. 

“After listening to powerful testimony about the high rate of miscarriages in our state during an Assembly Women and Children Committee meeting last fall, I introduced a bill requiring more proactive monitoring and care during the crucial perinatal period, from the 20th week of a pregnancy through the first four weeks after a baby’s birth,” she said. “I am confident that with the collaboration of the New Jersey Primary Care Association and medical professionals and advocacy groups, we can bring this life-saving legislation to fruition.”

The New Jersey Primary Care Association is a nonprofit corporation that represents community-based ambulatory health care providers and affiliates across the state.

DeCroce said the measure so far is finding bipartisan support in Trenton.