Hackensack Meridian Health Hospitals Earn 2019 Leapfrog Top Hospital Award for Outstanding Safety and Quality

Riverview Medical Center was named a Top General Hospital and Jersey Shore University Medical Center and Ocean Medical Center were named Top Teaching Hospitals

Highlighting its nationally recognized achievements in patient safety and quality, Hackensack Meridian Health hospitals earned 2019 Leapfrog Top Hospital awards for safety and quality. Riverview Medical Center was named a Top General Hospital and Jersey Shore University Medical Center and Ocean Medical Center were named Top Teaching Hospitals nationally by The Leapfrog Group.

Announced in December 2019, the Leapfrog Top Hospital award is widely acknowledged as one of the most competitive honors American hospitals can receive. The Top Hospital designation is awarded by The Leapfrog Group, a national watchdog organization of employers and other purchasers focused on health care safety and quality. The Top Hospital Awards follow the network’s six “A” Hospital Safety Grades, also from The Leapfrog Group.

“At Hackensack Meridian Health, our team members have created a strong culture that is committed to providing high-quality, safe care each day,” said Robert C. Garrett, FACHE, CEO, Hackensack Meridian Health. “Our hospitals are among the best in the country, and I am proud that three of our hospitals have earned Leapfrog’s Top Hospital Award for achieving outstanding quality and safety.”

About 2,100 hospitals were considered for the award. Among those, Riverview Medical Center was one of 37 hospitals to receive a Top General Hospital distinction and Jersey Shore Medical Center and Ocean Medical Center were among 55 hospitals selected as Top Teaching Hospitals.

Performance across many areas of hospital care is considered in establishing the qualifications for the award, including infection rates, practices for safer surgery, maternity care, and the hospital’s capacity to prevent medication errors. The rigorous standards are defined in each year’s Top Hospital Methodology.

“We are pleased to recognize Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Riverview Medical Center and Ocean Medical Center as a 2019 Leapfrog Top Hospital,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “This demonstrates extraordinary dedication to patients and to the New Jersey community. We congratulate the board, staff and clinicians whose efforts made this honor possible and know they share pride in this achievement.”

To qualify for the Top Hospitals distinction, hospitals must rank top among peers in the 2019 Leapfrog Hospital Survey, which assesses hospital performance on the highest known standards for quality and patient safety and achieve top performance in its category. To see the full list of institutions honored as 2019 Top Hospitals, visit www.leapfroggroup.org/tophospitals.