When it comes to great catches, PFAS employee delivers

On Sept. 23, Kate Annunziato, patient financial access specialist, received a Great Catch award for recognizing a patient identification issue that could have affected patient safety. The next day, she made a great catch of a very different kind.

Annunziato works the overnight shift in the York Street Campus Emergency Department and admits maternity patients to the West Pavilion. At around 5:30 am Sept. 24, a woman who didn’t speak English arrived, in labor. While Annunziato called Language Services, the woman fidgeted a little in the wheelchair, then stood up. 

Annunziato thought the woman was going to walk off a contraction, which has happened before, but the baby decided to make her debut – right then and there. 

“I just acted on instinct, reached out and caught the baby,” Annunziato said. 

One of her PFAS colleagues summoned the clinical team, who arrived immediately to care for the mom and her baby. Both were fine. 

During her 10 years with PFAS, Annunziato has had some close calls with women in labor, but this was the first time she helped deliver a baby. 

“It took me about 24 hours to recover from the experience,” she said. “It was terrifying and wonderful at the same time.”