New Pennsylvania Hospital Safety Grades Released
PENNSYLVANIA — Several hospitals in Pennsylvania received top grades for safety while others didn’t quite measure up, according to new spring 2020 ratings released by the Leapfrog Group this week.
Safety grades are released by the nonprofit organization twice per year, in the spring and the fall. The ratings of more than 2,600 hospitals focus on accidents, injuries and infections, and help to assess how well a facility prevents medical errors and other harm to patients.
It’s worth noting the metrics used to determine this spring’s hospital grades originated from safety data reported for periods ending in 2018 and 2019. The report does not take into account the strain the new coronavirus outbreak is placing on some hospitals where staff are experiencing shortages of drugs and protection equipment.
In Pennsylvania:
50 hospitals received an A grade.
36 hospitals received a B grade.
30 hospitals received a C grade.
seven hospitals received a D grade.
0 hospitals received an F grade.
(See detailed list below)
The latest grades show 33 percent of hospitals nationwide earned an “A” grade while 25 percent earned a “B.” Some 35 percent earned a “C” grade, 7 percent a “D” and less than 1 percent received an “F” grade.
Here are the Leapfrog Group's spring 2020 grades for hospitals in Pennsylvania:
A Grade
Abington Memorial Hospital, Abington
Allegheny Valley Hospital, Natrona Heights
Butler Memorial Hospital, Butler
Chester County Hospital, West Chester
DLP Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center, Johnstown
Doylestown Hospital, Doylestown
Forbes Hospital, Monroeville
Geisinger Bloomsburg Hospital, Bloomsburg
Geisinger Lewistown Hospital, Lewistown
Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center, Wilkes-Barre
Grove City Medical Center, Grove City
Heritage Valley Beaver, Beaver
Heritage Valley Sewickley, Sewickley
Holy Redeemer Hospital and Medical Center, Meadowbrook
Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
Indiana Regional Medical Center, Indiana
Jefferson Regional Medical Center, Jefferson Hills
Lancaster General Hospital, Lancaster
Lehigh Valley Hospital - Cedar Crest, Allentown
Lehigh Valley Hospital - Hazleton, Hazleton
Lehigh Valley Hospital - Muhlenberg, Bethlehem
Meadville Medical Center, Meadville
Penn Highlands Huntingdon, Huntingdon
Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, Philadelphia
Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Hershey
St. Clair Hospital, Pittsburgh
St. Luke's Hospital - Allentown Campus, Allentown
St. Luke's Hospital - Anderson Campus, Easton
St. Luke's Hospital - Miners Campus, Coaldale
St. Luke's Monroe Campus, Stroudsburg
St. Luke's University Hospital - Bethlehem Campus, Bethlehem
St. Mary Medical Center, Langhorne
UPMC Altoona, Altoona
UPMC Bedford Memorial, Everett
UPMC Carlisle, Carlisle
UPMC Community, Harrisburg
UPMC Hamot, Erie
UPMC Horizon - Shenango Valley Campus, Farrell
UPMC McKeesport, McKeesport
UPMC Mercy, Pittsburgh
UPMC Northwest, Seneca
UPMC PASSAVANT, Pittsburgh
UPMC Passavant - Cranberry, Cranberry Township
UPMC Presbyterian, Pittsburgh
UPMC St. Margaret, Pittsburgh
UPMC Susquehanna - Williamsport, Williamsport
WellSpan Chambersburg Hospital, Chambersburg
WellSpan Ephrata Community Hospital, Ephrata
WellSpan Gettysburg Hospital, Gettysburg
West Penn Hospital, Pittsburgh
B Grade
Abington Health Lansdale Hospital, Lansdale
Allegheny General Hospital, Pittsburgh
Canonsburg General Hospital, Canonsburg
Clarion Hospital, Clarion
Evangelical Community Hospital, Lewisburg
Geisinger Holy Spirit Hospital, Camp Hill
Geisinger Medical Center, Danville
Jefferson Bucks, Langhorne
Jefferson Frankford, Philadelphia
Jefferson Torresdale, Philadelphia
Latrobe Hospital, Latrobe
Lehigh Valley Hospital - Pocono, East Stroudsburg
Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital, Darby
Mercy Philadelphia Hospital, Philadelphia
Monongahela Valley Hospital, Monongahela
Penn Highlands DuBois, DuBois
Pennsylvania Hospital, Philadelphia
Punxsutawney Area Hospital, Punxsutawney
Reading Hospital, West Reading
Saint Vincent Hospital, Erie
Sharon Regional Medical Center, Sharon
St. Luke's Quakertown Hospital, Quakertown
St. Luke's Sacred Heart Campus, Allentown
Suburban Community Hospital, East Norriton
Temple University Hospital, Philadelphia
Temple University Hospital Jeanes Campus, Philadelphia
UPMC East, Monroeville
UPMC Harrisburg, Harrisburg
UPMC Pinnacle Lititz, Lititz
UPMC Shadyside, Pittsburgh
UPMC Somerset, Somerset
UPMC West Shore, Mechanicsburg
Washington Hospital, Washington
Wellspan Good Samaritan Hospital, Lebanon
WellSpan York Hospital, York
Westmoreland Hospital, Greensburg
ACMH Hospital, Kittanning
C Grade
Bradford Regional Medical Center, Bradford
Brandywine Hospital, Coatesville
Bryn Mawr Hospital, Bryn Mawr
Chan Soon-Shiong Medical Center at Windber, Windber
Easton Hospital, Easton
Einstein Medical Center Elkins Park, Elkins Park
Einstein Medical Center Montgomery, East Norriton
Einstein Medical Center Philadelphia, Philadelphia
Geisinger Community Medical Center, Scranton
Geisinger Shamokin Area Community Hospital, Coal Township
Grand View Health, Sellersville
Jennersville Hospital, West Grove
Lankenau Medical Center, Wynnewood
Lehigh Valley Hospital - Schuylkill, Pottsville
Lower Bucks Hospital, Bristol
Moses Taylor Hospital, Scranton
Mount Nittany Medical Center, State College
Ohio Valley General Hospital, Mckees Rocks
Paoli Hospital, Paoli
Regional Hospital of Scranton, Scranton
Riddle Hospital, Media
St Joseph Regional Health Network dba St Joseph Medical Center, Reading
St. Luke's Gnaden Huetten Campus, Lehighton
Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia
Thomas Jefferson University Hospital - Methodist Hospital Campus, Philadelphia
UPMC Jameson, New Castle
UPMC Pinnacle Hanover, Hanover
UPMC Pinnacle Memorial, York
Wilkes-Barre General Hospital, Wilkes-Barre
Crozer Chester Medical Center, Upland
D Grade
Nazareth Hospital, Philadelphia
Phoenixville Hospital, Phoenixville
Pottstown Hospital, Pottstown
Springfield Hospital, Springfield
Taylor Hospital, Ridley Park
Warren General Hospital, Warren
Wayne Memorial Hospital, Honesdale
To determine each state’s grade, Leapfrog used up to 28 national performance measures from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the Leapfrog Hospital Survey and information from other supplemental data sources. When averaged, performance measures produce a single letter grade representing a hospital’s overall performance in keeping patients safe from preventable harm and medical errors.
The goal of the Hospital Safety Grade is to reduce deaths caused by hospital errors and injuries.
Leapfrog estimates that if the risk at all hospitals was equivalent to what it is at "A" hospitals, 50,000 lives at other facilities would have been saved. Overall, the researchers estimate that 160,000 lives are lost every year due to avoidable medical errors. That figure is down from 2016, when the Leapfrog Group estimated there were 205,000 avoidable deaths.
For a full description of the methodology, go here.
This article originally appeared on the Across Pennsylvania Patch