DeCroce Recieves Community Health Center Champion Award From The New Jersey Primary Care Association

Source: Assembly Republican Press Release -

Assemblywoman BettyLou DeCroce was presented with the New Jersey Primary Care Association’s “Community Health Center Champion Award” for her commitment to improving outcomes in high-risk pregnancies in New Jersey.

“I am sincerely humbled by this recognition and would like to thank the NJPCA for this honor,” said DeCroce, R- Morris, Essex andPassaic. “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 is the sponsor of bi-partisan legislation, A-4056, to 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,” stated DeCroce, who received the award at a conference today, at The Golden Nugget Hotel in Atlantic City.

“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.”

DeCroce was elected to the General Assembly to represent the constituents of the 26th Legislative District in 2012. She serves on the Assembly Education, Assembly Women and Children, and Assembly Higher Education committees, and the Joint Committee on Public Schools.

She is the former Deputy Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, where she oversaw the Division on Local Government Services and the Division on Women.

New Jersey Primary Care Association, Inc. (NJPCA) is a not-for-profit corporation that represents the organizational providers and affiliates of community-based ambulatory healthcare, specifically focusing on FQHCs, in the State ofNew Jersey.