PROVIDENCE – Two hospitals in Rhode Island have earned “A” grades from national watchdog The Leapfrog Group in its fall 2020 safety ratings.
Landmark Medical Center in Woonsocket and Newport Hospital were the sole “A” recipients, while Kent County Memorial Hospital, South County Hospital and The Miriam Hospital earned a “B.” Rhode Island Hospital and Westerly Hospital both received “C” grades.
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Leapfrog’s hospital safety grading system rates hospitals on how well facilities protect patients from “preventable errors, accidents, injuries, and infections,” according to its website.
Details on each hospital’s grades can be found at hospitalsafetygrade.org.
Measures such as effective leadership and staff working together to prevent errors, support for nursing workforce, hand-washing and appropriate use of antibiotics factor into the grades.
Other categories include surgery, infections acquired at hospitals, and critical and maternity care.
The grades are calculated using a combination of a Leapfrog hospital survey and performance measures from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, along with other data.
Leapfrog found that Kent Hospital reduced its incident rates in 14 of 15 categories of hospital-acquired complications and infections.
Staff at the facility are proud of the achievement, said Kent President and Chief Operating Officer Robert J. Haffey. He noted that the hospital “improved its score by implementing a number of patient safety best practices endorsed by safety organizations, such as the national Quality Forum, and through targeted improvement efforts to reduce avoidable harm to patients.”
Elizabeth Graham is a PBN contributing writer.
