Salisbury, Md. (Sunday, November 30, 2014) – Four generations of the Perdue family helped Peninsula Regional Medical Center dedicate its new Madeline Perdue Mother-Baby Unit on Friday, Nov. 28 in Salisbury. Built with the help of a $500,000 grant from the Arthur W. Perdue Foundation, the charitable giving arm of Perdue Farms, the new unit provides large, modern, private rooms with more space for mothers, babies and families.

The unit was dedicated in the name of Delmarva native Madeline Perdue, who passed away in 2011. As they helped cut the ribbon on the new unit, Chairman Jim Perdue and his sisters Anne Oliviero and Sandra Spedden were presented with a miniature version of the dedication sign bearing their mother’s name. All four of Madeline Perdue’s children were born at Peninsula Regional Medical Center (PRMC).

“We just like to see the continued growth of the hospital and outreach, and we’re so lucky to have them here,” said Jim Perdue.

“At Perdue, we’re proud to continue our support for PRMC and its mission to improve the communities it serves,” said Kim Nechay, executive director of the Arthur W. Perdue Foundation. “This is important to the Foundation and the Perdue family because PRMC serves the entire region that Perdue considers home. Madeline and Frank Perdue raised their children here so there is something very fitting about the Mother-Baby unit being what directly benefits from this gift. The renovations that these funds helped make possible are amazing and will help many families — many of which will be Perdue associates and family members — welcome their babies.”

The new rooms were planned with families and enhanced bonding in mind. Each room has a daybed for a support person to stay overnight, as well as a comfortable glider, to help mothers to breastfeed and bond with babies. The rooms in the newly remodeled unit are clustered in three-room “pods,” so nursing teams will always be close by and available to their patients. Peninsula Regional’s Mother-Baby Unit features Couplet Care, in which the same nurse takes care of both moms and babies, together in the same room. Research shows that families benefit from Couplet Care with increased bonding, babies who cry less and are easier to soothe. Each room has a computer, as well as an area for the newborns to be examined, with additional lighting for the nurses and pediatricians to best assess the babies. There is also a parent lounge for education on care after discharge.

“We want to help each of the 2,000 babies born here every year to have an exceptional start in life, and this is a beautiful new setting that will help us to achieve that,” said Diane Hitchens, RN, the Director of Women’s and Children’s Services at PRMC.

About Perdue Farms
Perdue Farms is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for everyone we touch through innovative food and agricultural products. Since our beginning on Arthur Perdue’s farm in 1920, to our expansion into agribusiness and the introduction of the PERDUE® brand of chicken and turkey under Frank Perdue, and continuing with our third generation of leadership with Chairman Jim Perdue, we’ve remained family owned and family operated. We are the parent company of Perdue Foods and Perdue AgriBusiness. Through our PERDUE®, HARVESTLAND® and COLEMAN NATURAL®, and COLEMAN ORGANIC® food brands; agricultural products and services; and stewardship and corporate responsibility programs, we are working to become the most-trusted name in food and agricultural products.

About The Arthur W. Perdue Foundation
The Arthur W. Perdue Foundation, the charitable giving arm of Perdue Farms, was established in 1957 by company founder Arthur W. Perdue and is funded through the estates of Arthur W. Perdue and Frank Perdue. As part of our belief in supporting the communities where and with whom we do business, the Foundation provides grants on behalf of Perdue Farms in communities where large numbers of our associates live and work.  At Perdue Farms, we believe in responsible food and agriculture.™

About Peninsula Regional Medical Center
The not-for-profit Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury, Maryland offers the widest array of specialty and subspecialty services on the Delmarva Peninsula. As part of the Peninsula Regional Health System, which in addition to the Medical Center includes a Foundation, a network of primary care and physician specialty practices located throughout the service area, an ambulatory surgery center and a number of post-acute care joint venture partners, Peninsula Regional has been providing care for over 117 years.