Health care safety group downgrades two Ascension St. Thomas hospitals in Nashville

Frank Gluck, Nashville Tennessean
Updated ·3 min read
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A national hospital quality and safety ratings organization has downgraded two Ascension Saint Thomas hospitals in Nashville from "B" grades to Cs in its annual fall report, an assessment the organization says does not reflect the care it provides.

Leapfrog, which has published and analyzed publicly available hospital safety data and hospital survey reports for two decades, gave Cs to Ascension Saint Thomas Midtown and Ascension Saint Thomas West — down from the Bs they received last fall.

The organization did not provide a summary of why it downgraded the hospitals. However, detailed reports on both Midtown and West hospitals note some staffing issues and rates of patient complications.

Saint Thomas Midtown Hospital
Saint Thomas Midtown Hospital

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (also known as CMS), which collects detailed information on U.S. health centers and from which much of Leapfrog's reporting is based, gives Ascension hospitals in Nashville 4 out of 5 stars for overall quality.

"While we support transparency through publicly available reports, the isolated rating methodology used by Leapfrog is not a reflection of the high-quality, safe patient care our physicians and care teams provide each day in our hospitals," Ascension spokeswoman Bobette Brown said in a written statement. "We regularly review the quality of care, patient safety and patient satisfaction data to ensure we are meeting nationally recognized standards and maintain accreditation from industry leaders that audit patient care we provide."

Brown added that much of the data Leapfrog used is two years old. And she noted that its health centers have been recognized by other health care watchdogs, including The Joint Commission and Healthgrades.

Leapfrom also assigned Cs to Nashville General Hospital, the city's public safety net hospital; and Williamson Medical Center in Franklin. However, in both cases, those grades were unchanged from last year.

"Pre-COVID, NGH achieved a top Safety Grade of A in Fall 2019," said Nashville General spokeswoman Cathy Poole. "Hospitals across the US are still recovering from the effects of the COVID pandemic on our quality and patient satisfaction surveys."

Vanderbilt University Medical Center, as well as Tristar Centennial Medical Center and TriStar Southern Hills Medical Center, received A's, both unchanged from last year. Similarly, Tristar Skyline Medical Center and Ascension Saint Thomas Rutherford Hospital both retained their B grades.

TriStar Southern Hills released a statement noting that it's achieved an A designation for 13 consecutive six-month grading seasons.

“TriStar Southern Hills is committed to raising the bar in providing high-quality, safe care to our patients and community,” said Drew Tyrer, the hospital's CEO. “Achieving this designation six years in a row truly shows our colleagues’ dedication to serving with compassion, inclusion and innovation. We’re excited about our future, and I’m proud of our colleagues and the work they do each day to elevate the care experience and improve the lives of our patients.”

Overall, Tennessee ranked eighth in the nation for the number of hospitals earning an A grade from Leapfrog. Just over 39% received the grade, according to the organization. No hospital in the state earned a failing grade, though four earned Ds: Greeneville Community Hospital East, in Greeneville; Cookeville Regional Medical Center, in Cookeville; Johnson City Medical Center, in Johnson City; and TriStar NorthCrest Medical Center, in Springfield.

Frank Gluck is the health care reporter for The Tennessean. He can be reached at fgluck@tennessean.com. Follow him on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @FrankGluck.

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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Hospital safety group downgrades two Ascension hospitals in Nashville