NY hospital safety ranking among worst nationally. Check your local hospital's grade

New York hospitals received mixed safety grades as staffing shortages contributed to the state's health care system ranking among the least safe nationally, a consumer watchdog group reported.

Only 16 hospitals statewide, or about 11%, received the highest A safety grade from Leapfrog, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit, while 28 hospitals received the second-lowest D grade. Two hospitals received an F.

The review looked at a variety of serious health-related issues, from infectious-disease prevention measures to surgical errors, and found an alarming decline patient complaints about their experiences at hospitals.

New York state overall ranked 42^nd worst in the country in terms of hospital safety, according to Leapfrog's latest fall grades.

New York’s fall ranking was a slight drop from its spring ranking, where it was listed as 40th worst in the country.

The recent ranking noted New York's percentage of hospitals receiving an A safety grade, at about 11%, fell far short of top-performing states ranging between 40% and 50%, including Virginia, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Texas and Florida.

What goes into the national hospital safety rankings?

New York has historically had some of the worst rankings for hospital quality and safety in the country, despite spending more than other states on health care.

Potential reasons for the poor ratings include limited state fines imposed on hospitals that put patients at risk, as well as some hospitals’ failures to implement best practices, according to a study by the New York Public Interest Research Group, a consumer watchdog.

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The study looked at Leapfrog as well as the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services star-ratings system.

Hospital trade groups have disputed many of the rankings, citing a lack of uniform standards as well as varying timeframes for data reviews that failed to account for the complexities of health care delivery.

Leapfrog, however, asserted it focuses on preventable safety issues, such as infections, medical mistakes like sponges or tools left in bodies and complications such as collapsed lungs, that should raise concerns for patients.

While the differences between rankings are connected to the scoring measures used, experts say patients should try to be aware of the results in each respective system because they focus on a variety of important issues.

Leapfrog’s latest grades, for example, reveal hospitals nationally have shown improvements in reducing healthcare-associated infections post-pandemic. By contrast, these infection rates hit a five-year high during the pandemic.

Still, New York had some of the most significant declines nationally in patient experience measures when compared to the fall of 2021. That included declines in “staff responsiveness” and “nurse communication,” the report noted, adding staff responsiveness directly correlates with preventable medical errors according to recent studies.

NY's hospital safety grades

Many of the hospitals across the Finger Lakes, Hudson Valley, Southern Tier and Mohawk Valley saw their safety grades improve or drop since Leapfrog last released grades in the spring.

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Some hospitals weren't graded because they were not included in the review, which exclude facilities based on several reasons, including a lack of sufficient data reported to regulators and Leapfrog.

Finger Lakes

• F.F. Thompson Hospital in Canandaigua: D

• Geneva General Hospital: C

• Highland Hospital in Rochester: C

• Newark-Wayne Community Hospital: C

• Rochester General Hospital: C

• Strong Memorial Hospital: C

• Unity Hospital in Rochester: B

• UR Medicine Noyes Health in Dansville: C

Hudson Valley

• Columbia Memorial Hospital in Hudson: F

• Garnet Health Medical Center in Middletown: C

• Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern: C

• MidHudson Regional Hospital in Poughkeepsie: D

• Montefiore New Rochelle Hospital: D

• Montefiore Nyack Hospital: C

• Montefiore St. Luke's Cornwall in Newburgh: C

• NewYork-Presbyterian Hudson Valley Hospital in Cortlandt Manor: C

• NewYork-Presbyterian Westchester in Bronxville: C

• Northern Dutchess Hospital in Rhinebeck: B

• Northern Westchester Hospital in Mount Kisco: A

• Phelps Hospital in Sleepy Hollow: B

• Putnam Hospital in Carmel: C

• St. Anthony Community Hospital in Warwick: B

• St. John's Riverside Hospital Andrus Pavilion in Yonkers: C

• St. Joseph's Medical Center in Yonkers: C

• Vassar Brothers Medical Center in Poughkeepsie: C

• Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla: D

• White Plains Hospital: A

Southern Tier

• Arnot Ogden Medical Center in Elmira: C

• Aurelia Osborn Fox Memorial Hospital in Oneonta: C

• Bon Secours Community Hospital in Port Jervis: C

• Cayuga Medical Center in Ithaca: C

• Guthrie Corning Hospital: B

• Guthrie Cortland Medical Center: C

• Our Lady of Lourdes Memorial Hospital in Binghamton: C

• UHS — Binghamton General Hospital: D

• UHS Chenango Memorial Hospital in Norwich: C

• UHS Wilson Medical Center in Johnson City: D

• St. Joseph's Hospital in Elmira: C

Mohawk Valley

• Nathan Littauer Hospital in Gloversville: C

• Oneida Health Hospital in Oneida: C

• Rome Memorial Hospital: C

• Saint Mary's Hospital at Amsterdam: D

• St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Utica: C

• The Wynn Hospital in Utica: C

For further details on grades in New York, visit the Leapfrog website at hospitalsafetygrade.org.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: NY hospital safety ranking drops. Check your local hospital grade