Six Hackensack Meridian Health Hospitals Receive an ‘A’ for Patient Safety from The Leapfrog Group
May 15, 2019
Hackensack Meridian Health is proud to announce that six hospitals were awarded an ‘A’ from The Leapfrog Group’s spring 2019 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Guide. The designation recognizes the network’s hospitals for their efforts in protecting patients from harm and providing safer health care. The Leapfrog Group, a national nonprofit organization, is committed to improving health care quality and safety for consumers and purchasers. 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.
The following hospitals received ‘A’ grades: Bayshore Medical Center, Holmdel; Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Neptune; Ocean Medical Center, Brick; Raritan Bay Medical Center, Perth Amboy; Riverview Medical Center, Red Bank; and Southern Ocean Medical Center, Manahawkin.
“Hackensack Meridian Health’s vision and commitment to achieving a culture of quality and safety is one of the things which distinguishes our organization as a premier health care provider. Our team members are dedicated to providing the best outcomes for our patients through the implementation of high reliability tools and behaviors across the board,” said Robert C. Garrett, CEO, Hackensack Meridian Health. “Our hospitals are among the best in the country and I am proud of our six ‘A’ grades and applaud our team for the outstanding and safe care they provide each and every day.”
“To be recognized nationally as an ‘A’ hospital is an accomplishment the whole community should take pride in,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “Hospitals that earn an ‘A’ grade are making it a priority to protect patients from preventable medical harm and error. We congratulate hospital leaders, board members, staff, volunteers and clinicians who work so hard to earn this A.”
“Improving patient care by focusing on key quality and safety indicators is integral to achieving Hackensack Meridian Health’s overall quality and safety objectives,” said Carol Barsky, M.D., MBA, senior vice president and chief quality officer. “Quality data is a critical tool that allows us to promote performance improvement and focus on protecting patients from preventable harm and delivering safe, high-quality care to the communities we serve.”
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.
To see Hackensack Meridian Health hospitals’ full grades, and to access patient tips for staying safe in the hospital, visit hospitalsafetygrade.org and follow The Leapfrog Group on Twitter and Facebook.
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 collects and transparently reports hospital 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.