PROVIDENCE — Five out of seven Rhode Island hospitals won A ratings from the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, earning the state first place in the assessment’s nation-wide fall rankings, a dramatic advance from its 50th ranking in 2012.
The safety grade was begun in 2012 by The Leapfrog Group, a nonprofit aimed at driving quality, safety, and transparency in the U.S. health system. The safety grade rates how well hospitals protect patients from preventable medical errors, injuries and infections. The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades assign A, B, C, D and F letter grades to hospitals nationwide.
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State rankings were based on the ratio of A rated hospitals to the total number of hospitals reviewed by Leapfrog in a state.
The A-graded Rhode Island hospitals were Newport Hospital, South County Hospital, The Miriam Hospital, Rhode Island Hospital and Landmark Medical Center.
Nationwide, 832 hospitals earned an A.
Kent Hospital and the soon-to-be shuttered Memorial Hospital each received C grades from the assessment.
Lifespan, which owns Rhode Island, The Miriam, and Newport hospitals, is the only health system in Rhode Island to receive the top score for all its eligible institutions.
“Our outstanding professionals work diligently every day to ensure that patients receive the highest quality care and best possible outcomes in the spirit of delivering health with care,” said Cathy E. Duquette, executive vice president for nursing affairs at Lifespan. “We are proud and honored that Leapfrog has recognized the tremendous investment in continuous improvement at each of our hospitals.”
“This award represents the collective expertise, dedication and diligence of the physicians, employees and Board Members of Landmark Medical Center. Together, we’ve made great strides in delivering the highest level of quality patient care,” said Michael Souza, Landmark Medical Center CEO. “Now patients in Northern Rhode Island and neighboring Massachusetts can be assured that top quality care is locally accessible at Landmark Medical Center.”
In Bristol County, MA, Southcoast Health System Inc.’s St. Luke’s Hospital in New Bedford, Charlton Memorial Hospital in Fall River and Tobey Hospital in Wareham each received A ratings.
“Patient safety is paramount to everyone at Southcoast Health,” said Keith Hovan, president & CEO of Southcoast Health. “When patients are admitted to a Southcoast Health hospital, they and their families can be confident that we have the personnel, training and systems in place to maintain the highest level of clinical care and patient safety.”
St. Anne’s Hospital in Fall River also received an A rating. The hospitals were among the 56 percent rated A in the Bay State out of 60 total hospitals. Massachusetts ranked seventh in the nationwide assessment.
Sturdy Memorial Hospital in Attleboro was rated B; Morton Hospital in Taunton was rated C by the system.
“It takes consistent, unwavering dedication to patients to achieve the highest standards of patient safety. An A Safety Grade recognizes hospitals for this accomplishment,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “We congratulate the clinicians, board, management and staff of Southcoast Health for showing the country what it means to put patient safety first.”
Developed under the guidance of a Blue Ribbon National Expert Panel, the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade uses 27 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to assign A, B, C, D and F grades to more than 2,600 U.S. hospitals twice per year. It is calculated by top patient safety experts, peer reviewed, fully transparent and free to the public.
Rob Borkowski is a PBN staff writer. Email him at Borkowski@PBN.com.
