Falls, collapsed lungs among concerns at Central Kentucky hospitals, safety report says

A national watchdog group recently scored some Central Kentucky hospitals below average for several safety metrics, including patient falls and injuries, collapsed lungs and infections.

The Leapfrog Group is a nonprofit organization that provides ratings and safety data for hospitals and it recently released grades for nearly 3,000 hospitals across the country. The organization updates the grades twice each year, once in the spring and once in the fall.

Out of seven Central Kentucky hospitals, two received better grades compared to the spring, while one received a lower grade.

Saint Joseph East, Georgetown Community Hospital and Clark Regional Medical Center each received the lowest score given to any hospital for having specially trained doctors care for patients in the intensive care unit. Saint Joseph Hospital also scored below average in this metric.

All seven local hospitals scored below average for preventing at least one type of infection, including urinary tract, sepsis after surgery and other infections.

While several of the hospitals examined struggled with infection rates, the national trend shows facilities reducing the number of health care-acquired infections overall, Leapfrog reports. These ratings are the first to reflect “post-pandemic” hospital performance, the organization says.

“Now that we have pre- and post-pandemic data for patient safety measures, we are encouraged by the improvement in infections and applaud hospitals for reversing the disturbing infection spike we saw during the pandemic,” Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group said in a Nov. 6 press release. “However, there’s still more work to be done. It’s deeply concerning that patient reports about their health care experience continues to decline.”

Kentucky ranked 37th in the nation for the highest number of hospitals earning an “A” ranking, Leapfrog reports, up from 46th place in the spring. The commonwealth improved overall performance, with 19.7% of hospitals receiving “A”s, up from 6.6% in the spring.

Here’s how Central Kentucky hospitals performed in Leapfrog’s fall 2023 grading, plus how to interpret ratings and which areas should be most heavily considered.

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Baptist Health Lexington

Fall 2023 grade: A

Spring 2023 grade: A

Fall 2022 grade: A

Here are the areas in which Baptist Health Lexington scored below average this fall:

• Infection in the urinary tract

• Sepsis infection after surgery

• Patient falls and injuries

• Collapsed lung

• Hand washing (Baptist Health Lexington received a 40 out of 100 for hand washing. The average score was 77.32.)

“We are proud of our physicians and staff who are dedicated to patient safety. We continuously strive to improve our care of our patients. While we acknowledge Leapfrog is one of many systems of measurement, this publicly reported data underscores the commitment of Baptist Health Lexington to our patients and the communities we serve,” hospital spokesperson Ruth Ann Childers said in an emailed statement.

UK Good Samaritan Hospital

Fall 2023 grade: B

Spring 2023 grade: C

Fall 2022 grade: B

Here are the areas in which UK Good Samaritan Hospital scored below average this fall:

• Surgical site infection after colon surgery

• Sepsis infection after surgery

• Dangerous object left in patient’s body

• Kidney injury after surgery

• Serious breathing problem

• Harmful events

• Patient falls and injuries

UK Albert B. Chandler Hospital

Fall 2023 grade: C

Spring 2023 grade: C

Fall 2022 grade: B

Here are the areas in which UK Albert B. Chandler Hospital scored below average this fall:

• MRSA infection

• Sepsis infection after surgery

• Dangerous object left in patient’s body

• Kidney injury after surgery

• Serious breathing problem

• Harmful events

• Patient falls and injuries

UK HealthCare officials were not immediately available for comment.

Saint Joseph Hospital

Fall 2023 grade: C

Spring 2023 grade: C

Fall 2022 grade: B

Here are the areas in which Saint Joseph Hospital scored below average this fall:

• Sepsis infection after surgery

• Blood leakage

• Serious breathing problem

• Accidental cuts and tears

• Harmful events

• Patient falls and injuries

• Falls causing broken hips

• Collapsed lung

• Communication about medicines

• Specially trained doctors care for ICU patients (Saint Joseph Hospital received a 15 out of 100 for this category. The average score was 62.31.)

• Communication with nurses

• Responsiveness of hospital staff

Saint Joseph East

Fall 2023 grade: B

Spring 2023 grade: C

Fall 2022 grade: B

Here are the areas in which Saint Joseph East scored below average this fall:

• Sepsis infection after surgery

• Death from serious treatable complications

• Collapsed lung

• Specially trained doctors care for ICU patients (Saint Joseph East received a 5 out of 100 for this category, the lowest score given to any hospital.)

• Responsiveness of hospital staff

Data about Saint Joseph East’s performance was unavailable for surgical site infection after colon surgery. Data being unavailable for this metric does not denote a lack of safety or a poor score.

“Our caregivers are dedicated to providing the highest level of safe and quality care for our patients. As with any health care report card, the Leapfrog grades must be interpreted in context, since there are multiple rating agencies, each with different ratings criteria. Multiple organizations focused on quality rankings – such as Healthgrades and U.S. News & World Report – have consistently recognized Saint Joseph Hospital and Saint Joseph East for quality care, including a national Top 100 Hospitals ranking and a 100 Best Critical Care ranking for Saint Joseph Hospital. Regardless of the score, we focus on continuous improvement to always provide excellent care for our patients,” Chief Medical Officer Dr. Dan Goulson said in an emailed statement.

Georgetown Community Hospital

Fall 2023 grade: C

Spring 2023 grade: C

Fall 2022 grade: C

Here are the areas in which Georgetown Community Hospital scored below average this fall:

• C. diff infection

• Serious breathing problems

• Doctors order medications through a computer

• Specially trained doctors care for ICU patients (Georgetown Community Hospital received a 5 out of 100 for this category, the lowest score given to any hospital.)

Data about Georgetown Community Hospital’s performance was unavailable for MRSA infection, infection in the blood, infection in the urinary tract, surgical site infection after colon surgery and death from serious treatable complications.

“Georgetown Community Hospital provides safe, high-quality care to patients, families and visitors and is committed to ongoing quality improvement efforts so that we can continue to ensure that everyone has a positive experience at our hospital. We value the information that public reports and ranking systems provide; it adds to how we regularly monitor our progress and helps us explore opportunities to continuously improve the care we provide,” an official told the Herald-Leader in a written statement.

“Currently, there are a number of public reporting systems, including the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, which evaluate hospital performance. These systems use different quality measures, performance data and methodologies to calculate scores. As a result, a hospital may perform well on one report card and poorly on another. Our lab and hospital are accredited through The Joint Commission. We also hold Acute Stroke Ready Certification through The Joint Commission and Chest Pain Accreditation through the American College of Cardiology. We’re also designated with Lifepoint as a National Quality Leader.

Because of these variations, the Hospital Safety Grade, as with any public reporting system, must be appropriately interpreted. For example, some of the data used to calculate hospital grades is outdated, and does not reflect more recent performance improvement efforts. Since the time used to calculate this grade, Georgetown Community Hospital has implemented a number of initiatives designed to enhance quality. These include:

• Bedside shift report — nurse to nurse handoff at the time of shift change to ensure the patient is part of the process of care delivery and can lead to measurable improvements in safety and quality.

• Best practices in the prevention of multiple hospital-acquired conditions.

• Emphasis of the national best practice known as the Foundational Five — briefs, debriefs, huddles, executive patient safety rounds and learning boards — all of which are communication tools used to bring safety and quality concerns to the forefront and prevent adverse outcomes.

It is our privilege to serve the healthcare needs of our community, and we will continue monitoring our progress and exploring opportunities to ensure all patients have access to high-quality care close to home,” Cliff Wilson III, CEO of Georgetown Community Hospital and market president for Lifepoint in Central Kentucky, said in the emailed statement.

Clark Regional Medical Center

Fall 2023 grade: B

Spring 2023 grade: A

Fall 2022 grade: A

Here are the areas in which Clark Regional Medical Center scored below average this fall:

• Infection in the blood

• Infection in the urinary tract

• Accidental cuts and tears

• Collapsed lung

• Nursing and bedside care for patients (Clark Regional Medical Center received a 40 out of 100 in this category. The average was 71.)

• Specially trained doctors care for ICU patients (Clark Regional Medical Center received a 5 out of 100 for this category, the lowest score given to any hospital.)

“Recently, the Leapfrog Group reported its Fall 2023 Hospital Safety Grade, in which Clark Regional Medical Center earned [a] B. We are pleased to be among only a few hospitals in the state that earned a B rating or higher and remain focused on protecting patients from preventable harm and errors. Each of us works hard to ensure high-quality and safe care for all who come through our doors. While we value these public ranking systems and certainly want to celebrate our successes, it is essential to remember that each uses different methodology and data collection periods. Still, our commitment to quality has been recognized in various ways — including that all four Lifepoint hospitals in Central Kentucky have received the National Quality Leadership designation,” CEO Matt Smith said.

How are hospital grades calculated?

Safety grades are calculated using up to 22 national safety measures from the Leapfrog survey, U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and other data sources. The full methodology is available online and is peer-reviewed and published by the Journal of Patient Safety.

Grades are composed 50% by process and structural measures and 50% by outcome measures. The scoring scales differ by the chosen measure.

Across the U.S., nearly 30% of hospitals received an “A,” 24% received a “B,” 39% received a “C,” 7% received a “D” and less than 1% received an “F” in the fall 2023 ratings.

How should you use these scores?

Leapfrog emphasizes you should not refuse emergency care based on hospital ratings. The group intends the scores to be used when planning things like childbirth, surgery referrals or chronic illness treatment.

The areas you should pay most attention to when choosing a hospital include handwashing, infection in the blood and patient falls, Leapfrog’s website says.

You should also consider how far off your hospital was from the average for any given standard. When evaluating a hospital, you can see the highest and lowest scores given, which helps in weighing a value.

The “below average” category can include hospitals that scored 0.01 points under goal, along with facilities with the lowest possible score.

For hospitals that responded to Leapfrog’s survey, there’s often information available about which areas the hospital has improved in and which areas are not going in the right direction.

A hospital being ungraded does not denote a lack of safety. Ratings are often unavailable for facilities that decline to self-report, as well as smaller providers, children’s hospitals, surgical centers and critical access hospitals.

Where can you find more hospital ratings?

Leapfrog allows you to search for hospitals by name, location or state. There’s an online search tool where you can find information about more hospitals.

This story may be updated.

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