Outreach Education | Emory School of Medicine

Emory Regional Perinatal Center

Neonatal Outreach Program

The Neonatal Outreach Program of the Emory Regional Perinatal Center (RPC) promotes the delivery of high-quality neonatal care across the region by offering outreach, educational opportunities, and resources to neonatal and perinatal healthcare professionals and community partners.

Serving the Atlanta perinatal region—a 39-county region inclusive of the Atlanta metro area and north Georgia—the Neonatal Outreach Program offers a variety of educational and supportive services, guided by routine assessments of strengths and needs across the region, perinatal outcome data, direct requests from regional clinicians, and priorities of the Georgia Department of Public Health.

Program Goals

Education

To provide – both directly and through connections to partnering organizations – educational offerings relevant to the needs and priorities of our perinatal region. Initiatives include:

Multidisciplinary case conferences
Multidisciplinary simulations
Nursing lectures/seminars
Video learning library
Journal clubs
Grand rounds

Communication

To promote coordination and collegiality across the region, among the Atlanta RPC (including Angel II transport team and NICU follow-up developmental progress clinic), the 30+ neonatal and perinatal hospitals and healthcare organizations, the Georgia Department of Public Health, and community partners. Initiatives include:

Regional newsletters
Facility debriefs

Quality

To promote high-quality newborn care through support for quality improvement initiatives, collaboration with the Georgia Perinatal Quality Collaborative (GaPQC), protocol sharing, case review, and more. Initiatives include:

Tiny baby learning collaborative

Links to Services

Video Learning Library

On-demand access to videos covering various neonatal care topics

Regional eNewsletter

A monthly eNewsletter to promote communication and share opportunities

Requests/Information

For more information about the program or to request outreach education

Atlanta Regional Tiny Baby Collaborative

Join our monthly virtual meetings on how to best support our region’s tiniest patients and their families.

Tiny Baby Collaborative – Fill out form

Regional Perinatal Center Outreach Education

Join the Emory Division of Neonatology’s virtual offerings to support best practices for the neonatal population.

Emory RPC Outreach Education – Fill out form

Outreach Team

Lindsay Sternad

MD, MPH

Medical Director of Outreach Education

Dr. Sternad joined the Division of Neonatology in 2021 and assumed directorship of the outreach program in summer 2023. She received her medical degree from the Medical College of Georgia and completed her pediatric residency and neonatal-perinatal medicine fellowship at Vanderbilt University. While in fellowship, Dr. Sternad also earned her Master of Public Health with a focus in epidemiology.

Her research is centered around ensuring equitable access to medical care and follow up services, particularly for families who prefer languages other than English. She is also helping to implement a more streamlined process to screen for social determinants of health and provide community resources to families.

Jessi Barnes

MSN, RN, RNC-NIC, NPD-BC, C-ELBW

Neonatal Outreach Coordinator
Office: 404-251-4650
Cell: 770-695-7020

Jessi Barnes is a nursing professional development specialist with a passion for the neonatal patient population. Her nursing practice consists of high-risk perinatal care, neonatal intensive care, and a few years in nursing informatics just to shake things up. Her passion for trauma-informed, family-integrated care fuels her professional work. Jessi holds a Master of Science in nursing education and certifications in high-risk neonatal nursing, nursing professional development, and care of the extremely low birth weight infant. She is also a graduate of the Trauma Informed Professional certificate program and a Community Resiliency Model Teacher.

In August 2022, Jessi experienced the NICU firsthand when her daughter was born at 27 weeks 5 days after a home placental abruption. Experiencing the environment she knows and loves from the “other side” was exhausting, traumatic, but most of all, hopeful. She hopes to share her passion for neonatal care and personal experiences with the region’s hospitals to help improve patient, family, and clinician outcomes.