St Joe’s gets ‘A’ in Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade

St. Joseph’s Health Hospital received an ‘A’ in the spring 2020 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade. It is the only hospital in Central New York to receive this designation, a third consecutive grade ‘A’ safety grade, according to the hospital.

The Leapfrog Group is a nonprofit watchdog organization that serves as a voice for health care purchasers, using their collective influence to foster positive change in U.S. health care.

Surveyed hospitals are assessed based on three of Leapfrog’s most important patient safety standards: infections, hand hygiene, and ICU physician staffing. The safety grade assigns an ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’, ‘D’ or ‘F’ grade to hospitals across the country based on their performance in preventing medical errors, injuries, accidents, infections and other harms to patients in their care

“Safety has always been part of St. Joseph’s Health’s culture — from frequent hand washing, wearing proper PPE to rigorous cleanings of exam, surgical and patient rooms,” said Leslie Paul Luke, president and CEO at St. Joseph’s Health. “This rating demonstrates the success of our efforts to be the safest and most reliable hospital in the region. Patient safety is critically important for all hospitals, especially during the current Coronavirus pandemic.  To be named among the safest hospitals in the country serves as firm reassurance to our patients and the community that they should feel comfortable coming to us for care.”

Developed under the guidance of a national expert panel, the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade uses 28 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to assign grades to more than 2,600 U.S. acute-care hospitals twice per year. The Hospital Safety Grade’s methodology is peer-reviewed and fully transparent, and the results are free to the public.