The Leapfrog Group, a national nonprofit health care ratings organization, this week released new Leapfrog Hospital Safety grades, awarding top marks to St. Luke’s hospital campuses.
The main hospital building at St. Luke’s University Hospital’s Anderson Campus in Bethlehem Township, Pa. (FILE PHOTO)
The Safety Grade assigns letter grades of A, B, C, D and F twice annually–in the spring and fall–to hospitals nationwide based on their performance in preventing medical errors, infections and other harm. Several St. Luke’s University Health Network campuses–Bethlehem, Allentown and Anderson–were among 855 hospitals awarded an “A” for their commitment to keeping patients safe and meeting the highest safety standards in the U.S.
“This A rating is an important validation of St. Luke’s continued focus on and commitment to patient safety,” St. Luke’s Vice President and Chief Quality Officer Donna Sabol said. “I couldn’t be prouder of our doctors, nurses and other staff, who have earned Leapfrog’s top honors by making patient safety their overriding priority in everything they do.”
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. The grade is calculated by top patient safety experts, peer reviewed, fully transparent and free to the public.
“Leapfrog’s Hospital Safety Grades recognize hospitals like St. Luke’s that focus on advancing patient safety. This ranking provides an important resource for patients, and a benchmark for hospitals, to determine how care at one hospital compares to others in a region,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “Hospitals that earn an A Hospital Safety Grade deserve to be recognized for their efforts in preventing medical harm and errors.”
To see St. Luke’s full grades, and to access patient tips for staying safe in the hospital, visit www.hospitalsafetygrade.org.
Note: This local health news is brought to you in partnership with St. Luke’s University Health Network.