Peitso receives state leadership and advocacy award

St. Cloud, Minn. – CentraCare Pediatrician and Pediatric Hospitalist Marilyn Peitso, MD, received the 2015 Betty Hubbard Maternal and Child Health Leadership Award for her statewide leadership and advocacy on behalf of mothers and children in Minnesota at a Dec. 4 reception in St. Paul. This annual award was established by Minnesota’s Maternal and Child Health Advisory Task Force and the Minnesota Department of Health to honor the memory of Betty Hubbard, long-time Task Force member and maternal and child health advocate.

Dr. Peitso joined CentraCare Clinic in 1991 and worked as a pediatrician in the Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine Clinic until joining the Pediatric Hospitalist and care coordination teams in January 2015. Dr. Peitso continues to have great passion for working with families of children with special health care needs. In her current role, she works to improve care coordination in partnership with patients and families across CentraCare Health.

Peitso is a recognized leader at CentraCare Health, in Minnesota and in the nation. Since 2001, she worked on an Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement (ICSI) project to bring patient- and family-centered care principles to the Pediatrics Clinic. She worked closely with the Minnesota legislature, the Minnesota Department of Health, a parents’ advocacy group called Family Voices and the Minnesota Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics to develop Health Care Homes in pediatric practices across the state. This work culminated in 2008 with Health Care Home legislation being passed in Minnesota. Peitso has seen this Minnesota model influence the national health care home movement.