TTUHSC El Paso Faculty Appointed Vice Chair of Texas Health and Human Services Perinatal Advisory Council

Newswise — EL PASO, Texas — Sadhana Chheda, M.D., associate professor of pediatrics at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso’s Foster School of Medicine, will help lead efforts to improve neonatal and maternity care in the state. Dr. Chheda has been appointed to a one-year term as vice chair of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission’s Perinatal Advisory Council (PAC).

Dr. Chheda was appointed to the PAC by the health agency’s executive commissioner in 2017 and was reappointed in 2020. Established by the Texas Legislature in 2013, the PAC is made up of appointed physicians, nurses and hospital representatives across the state with expertise in health care for newborns and women during pregnancy, childbirth and the postnatal period.

The council’s responsibilities include developing and recommending criteria used by the Texas Department of State Health Services (TDSHS) to designate neonatal and maternity levels of care in hospitals and making recommendations to improve neonatal and maternal outcomes. Texas maternal care facilities have designations that range from Level 1, which offers care for generally healthy, low-risk patients, to Level IV, which provides a full spectrum of care for patients facing complex, high-risk pregnancies. University Medical Center of El Paso, one of TTUHSC El Paso’s affiliated teaching hospitals, holds a Level IV maternal care designation. The Hospitals of Providence Memorial Campus is also designated a Level IV maternal care center, the highest designation possible by the Texas Department of State and Health Services.

In addition to her role as associate professor at TTUHSC El Paso, Dr. Chheda is a practicing pediatrician at Texas Tech Physicians of El Paso. She specializes in neonatology, ensuring critically ill newborns receive the proper nutrition for healing and growth. TTP El Paso offers services from a variety of subspecialty providers, helping local families receive world-class patient care locally.

Dr. Chheda said her position as the council’s vice chair will give Far West Texas and the El Paso border region a strong voice to help ensure high quality of care for newborns and their mothers. “The health of our nation depends on how it treats its most vulnerable: children, pregnant women and the disabled. Our future depends on our children,” said Dr. Chheda.

Measures of Infant and Maternal Care

One important barometer of perinatal care is a community’s infant mortality rate. The infant mortality rate in El Paso was 5.4 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2019, according to the latest DSHS data. This is below Texas’ and the United States’ overall infant mortality rate of 5.5 and 5.6 respectively, but above the 5.0 target set by the federal government’s Healthy People 2030 initiative.

Racial and ethnic disparities in infant mortality rates persist in Texas, according to DSHS. For example, non-Hispanic Black mothers are experiencing an infant mortality rate of 10.9, twice as high as rates for non-Hispanic whites and Hispanics.

Disparities also exist in pregnancy-related deaths of Texas mothers. For example, a recent DSHS study of maternal mortality and morbidity found that non-Hispanic Black women account for 11% of live births in Texas, yet this group experienced 31% of pregnancy-related deaths.

Many health factors, including obesity and cardiovascular/coronary conditions, mental disorders, and substance abuse disorders, play a role in the outcome of pregnancies.

Although Dr. Chheda’s responsibilities will encompass the entire state, she said she will work to make sure that high-quality perinatal care in our region will be accessible and continue to improve. The PAC is one of many important perinatal quality-improvement stakeholders in the state and U.S., playing a part in improving the health of Texas mothers and their babies.

“El Paso is unique in that it is 80% Hispanic, on the border with another state and another country with limited facilities for taking care of this population. It is also far from other areas in Texas. All these are unique challenges that need to be taken into account, and my representation ensures we have a seat at the table,” Dr. Chheda said.

About Dr. Sadhana Chheda

Dr. Chheda is a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics and board certified in pediatrics and neonatal-perinatal medicine. She was an advisory member of the Children's Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program of Texas and a member of the Texas Perinatal Board.

Dr. Chheda currently serves as a NICU designation surveyor. At El Paso Children’s Hospital, she serves as neonatal transport medical director, and chair of the medical staff quality committee. She was an incorporating member of the board of El Paso Children’s Hospital and has served as president of TTUHSC El Paso’s Women in Medicine and Science organization.

About Texas Tech Physicians of El Paso

Texas Tech Physicians of El Paso is the region’s largest multispecialty medical group practice, with over 250 specialists and subspecialists providing world-class patient care for the entire family at several locations across El Paso. As the medical practice of the Foster School of Medicine, the physicians who comprise TTP El Paso each hold faculty appointments at the school, where they teach the next generation of doctors who will serve the Borderplex region and beyond.

About Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso

TTUHSC El Paso is the only health sciences center on the U.S.-Mexico border and serves 108 counties in West Texas that have been historically underserved. It is the only health sciences center along the U.S.-Mexico border designated as a Title V Hispanic-Serving Institution, preparing the next generation of health care heroes, 48% of whom identify as Hispanic and are often first-generation college students.