St. Joseph’s is Only Hospital in the Region to Receive Leapfrog Safety Grade 'A' During COVID-19 Pandemic
December 14, 2020Hospital achieves the highest safety marks from watchdog group for 4th consecutive grading period.
Syracuse, NY (December 14, 2020) – St. Joseph’s Health Hospital has been awarded an ‘A’ in the fall 2020 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, a national distinction recognizing the Hospital’s achievements protecting patients from harm and providing safer health care. This is the fourth consecutive grading period in which St. Joseph’s received the watchdog group’s highest marks for safety.
The Leapfrog Group is an independent national watchdog organization committed to health care quality and safety. The Safety Grade assigns an ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’, ‘D’ or ‘F’ grade to all general hospitals across the country and is updated every six months. It is based on a hospital’s performance in preventing medical errors, injuries, accidents, infections and other harms to patients in their care.
“St. Joseph’s Health has always been at the forefront of safety throughout our 150 year history – and this past year has been a perfect demonstration of that commitment with our innovations in air quality, decontamination, prevention measures and more,” said Leslie Paul Luke, president and CEO at St. Joseph’s Health. “As the only hospital in the region to consistently receive an ‘A’ safety grade, especially during the unimaginable challenges of a global pandemic, I am humbled by the hard work of all our colleagues every day to ensure this level of quality.”
“We are extremely grateful to hospital leadership and health care workers who have remained steadfast in prioritizing patient safety as our nation battles COVID-19,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “This ‘A’ is a testament to the care and commitment of those who work for St. Joseph’s Health Hospital. With the current pandemic exposing existing flaws within the U.S. health care system, we appreciate you putting patient safety first. Lives depend on it.”
Developed under the guidance of a national Expert Panel, the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade uses up to 27 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.
For more information, visit sjhsyr.org and hospitalsafetygrade.org.
About St. Joseph’s Health
St. Joseph’s Health is a regional non-profit health care system based in Syracuse, NY. St. Joseph’s has been an innovative leader in health care since our founding in 1869 as the first hospital open to the public in the city of Syracuse. Offering primary, specialty and home care, a Magnet-recognized hospital, and collaboration with community partners, St. Joseph's Health advances the well-being of the communities we serve through an expanding range of services to ensure our patients achieve optimum long-term health. St. Joseph’s is the only hospital in Syracuse to hold the LeapFrog ‘A’ safety rating, ranked by Consumer Reports among the top 15 heart surgery centers in the country, a designated Stroke Center and a U.S. News “Best Regional Hospital.” The St. Joseph’s Health Hospital NICU was the first in Syracuse and is celebrating its 50th Anniversary throughout 2020. St. Joseph’s Health is affiliated with Franciscan Companies and St. Joseph’s Physicians, and is a member of Trinity Health. For more information, visit www.sjhsyr.org/legacy.
About The Leapfrog Group
Founded in 2000 by large employers and other purchasers, The Leapfrog Group is a national nonprofit organization driving a movement for giant leaps forward in the quality and safety of American health care. The flagship Leapfrog Hospital Survey and new Leapfrog Ambulatory Surgery Center (ASC) Survey collect and transparently report hospital and ASC performance, empowering purchasers to find the highest-value care and giving consumers the lifesaving information, they need to make informed decisions. The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, Leapfrog's other main initiative, assigns letter grades to hospitals based on their record of patient safety, helping consumers protect themselves and their families from errors, injuries, accidents and infections.
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