We are excited to announce the award recipients for the 2026 CMQCC Quality and Engagement Awards! We present the following awards to member hospitals who go above and beyond to improve the quality of care for California’s birthing people and their families.
The 2026 Award Communications Package to help hospital staff share their award(s) can be found in Box or Google Drive.
Maternal Data Center (MDC) Early Implementers Award
Awarded to hospitals that implemented a new MDC measure or feature
For 2026: Non-Medically Indicated Inductions for eCQM Data Submissions
Maternal Data Center (MDC) Superstar Award: Small Birth Volume Hospitals
Awarded to hospitals with <1,000 annual births that exhibited high levels of engagement with the MDC
Maternal Data Center (MDC) Superstar Award: Medium Birth Volume Hospitals
Awarded to hospitals with between 1,000 and 2,499 births that exhibited high levels of engagement with the MDC
Maternal Data Center (MDC) Superstar Award: Large Birth Volume Hospitals
Awarded to hospitals with 2,500 or more births that exhibited high levels of engagement with the MDC
Quality & Sustainability Award: NTSV Cesarean Birth Rate (PC-02)
Awarded to hospitals that met and maintained California’s target rate for the NTSV Cesarean Birth measure for three consecutive years
Quality & Sustainability Award: QI Academy Collaborative Hospitals
Awarded to QI Academy-participating hospitals that met and maintained their target rate for their selected quality initiative
Quality & Sustainability Award: Maternal Safety Standards Implementation
Awarded to hospitals that documented implementation of the Maternal Safety Standards and key practices for Hypertension and/or OB Hemorrhage per the guidance available via the Maternal Data Center’s (MDC’s) QI Initiatives Tool
NEW! Quality and Sustainability Award: Learning Initiative Collaborative Hospitals
Awarded to participants of CMQCC’s Learning Initiative to Support Safe and Respectful Vaginal Birth that were not only successful in either lowering their higher NTSV Cesarean Birth (PC-02) rate or maintaining a rate at or below the Healthy People 2030 target rate, but also reducing that rate among one or more patient populations (based on the Race and Ethnicity categories presented in the MDC)
Quality and Sustainability Honor Roll
Awarded to hospitals whose performance reflects an outstanding level of work that goes above and beyond the Quality and Sustainability Award eligibility criteria