Leapfrog gives UChicago Medicine 15th consecutive 'A' for hospital safety

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The University of Chicago Medicine earned its 15th “A” grade in hospital safety from the Leapfrog Group, making it one of just 41 health care providers across the country to have received consecutive top marks from the industry watchdog group. UChicago Medicine is the only institution in Chicago with this distinction.

The pool of hospitals with continuous A's shrank by one in this spring's results, which were released Wednesday. In fall 2018, 42 institutions earned the top score in all 15 survey periods. In spring 2018, 49 had such a record.

“Our record is a testament to this organization’s high standards and practices, which are borne out every day through the tireless work of our faculty, nurses and broader clinical and non-clinical staff,” said Kenneth S. Polonsky, MD, executive vice president for medical affairs at the University of Chicago.

In the current grading cycle, more than 2,600 hospitals were surveyed based on 28 publicly available safety metrics, which are selected and reviewed by a panel of experts. Data range from infection rates, surgical complications and medical errors to safety problems and staffing. Leapfrog assigns a letter grade to hospitals based on their performance in preventing medical errors, infections and other harms. The results may be viewed on Leapfrog’s website.

“Hospitals that have earned an ‘A’ grade for every cycle of the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade are making patient safety the priority it needs to be in every acute-care hospital in the United States,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “The leadership at these distinguished hospitals is committed to putting patients first, every minute of every day.”

These 41 hospitals have maintained the highest possible grade 15 consecutive times:

 
Arizona
Mayo Clinic Hospital
 
California
French Hospital Medical Center
Kaiser Permanente-Anaheim
Kaiser Permanente-Santa Rosa
Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center
Twin Cities Community Hospital
 
Colorado
Rose Medical Center
 
Florida
AdventHealth Daytona Beach
Memorial Hospital Miramar
 
Georgia
AdventHealth Gordon
 
Illinois
Elmhurst Memorial Hospital
Central DuPage Hospital (Winfield)
OSF St. Joseph Medical Center (Bloomington)
OSF St. Mary Medical Center (Galesburg)
Rush Copley Medical Center (Aurora)
University of Chicago Medical Center
 
Louisiana
Minden Medical Center
 
Massachusetts
Addison Gilbert Hospital
Berkshire Medical Center
Beverly Hospital
Brigham and Women's Faulkner Hospital
Newton-Wellesley Hospital
Saint Anne's Hospital
 
Michigan
Huron Valley-Sinai Hospital
Michigan Medicine
 
Mississippi
Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle
 
North Carolina
UNC Rex Hospital
 
New Jersey
St. Barnabas Medical Center
 
Ohio
OhioHealth Dublin Methodist Hospital
OhioHealth Grady Memorial Hospital
UH St. John Medical Center
 
Texas
Memorial Hermann Katy Hospital
St. David's Medical Center
 
Virginia
Carilion New River Valley Medical Center
Inova Loudoun Hospital
Sentara CarePlex Hospital
Sentara Leigh Hospital
Sentara Obici Hospital
Sentara Princess Anne Hospital
Sentara Williamsburg Regional Medical Center
 
Washington
Virginia Mason Medical Center